Question on a conditional perfect statement

Question

How would I say "I would have studied more last night but it got late on me?"

I guess my title is misleading because I know that the first part is Habría estudiado más anoche pero... But I can't figure out the second part. Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

My bad, I didn't mean to put a question mark before the quotation - Astronomical, Dec 9, 2015

Welcome to the forum , we want to help you so fill out your profile If you have a problem PM a mod Bienvenido al foro. Queremos ayudarle, entonces hay que llenar su perfil. Si hay un problema, envíe un mensaje personal (PM) - ray76, Dec 9, 2015

Your bad, could be considered the inability to complete your profile . ;) - ray76, Dec 9, 2015

Oy welcome to the forum mate :) PS your first part sounds good but the second could use a little work mate. :) - Nickelbackfan1, Dec 10, 2015

Ok Nickelbackfa answering your smart comment , have a good look at the newbie , it is now over a day since being given lots of great answers , and yet no profile and not one word of thanks , now tell me I am a nagger. - ray76, Dec 11, 2015

I'm a nagger too Ray. - ian-hill, Dec 11, 2015

Two days and still no thanks. - ray76, Dec 12, 2015

Answer 1

Your first sounds good to me. For the second part I might choose:

"Se me hizo tarde" for it got late on me.

This is my opinion as an intermediate level learner, but I think I have seen it put that way before.

Interesting that no one wants to render an opinion on my answer either positive or negative. :( - bosquederoble, Dec 10, 2015

I think you are right. - gringojrf, Dec 10, 2015

Thanks, Gringo. :) - bosquederoble, Dec 10, 2015

It's the way I say it. :) - Daniela2041, Dec 10, 2015

I vote for you Bosque, I just offer up an alternative. - annierats, Dec 10, 2015

Thanks, everyone. :) - bosquederoble, Dec 10, 2015

Sometimes I am absolutely sure of what I say, but sometimes some confirmation is needed- usually that is when I say "my opinion, intermediate level learner" or such. :) - bosquederoble, Dec 10, 2015

Bosque , the difficulty for me in confirming the last part of the sentence is that I can't quite work out how we would say it in British English I need to get to the herat of the idea and we just wouldn't say: "it got late on me" - FELIZ77, Dec 10, 2015

Bosque , the difficulty for me in confirming the last part of the sentence is that I can't quite work out how we would say this idiom in British English. I need to get to the heart of the idea in my native language. - FELIZ77, Dec 10, 2015

and we just wouldn't say: "it got late on me" We might say: it got too late for me! ;) - FELIZ77, Dec 10, 2015

It means, I wasn't paying attention to the time, I was absorbed in something else, and before I noticed it was too late. :) - bosquederoble, Dec 10, 2015

Answer 2

What does "it got late on me" mean? I don't think I've ever heard that said before (North-Eastern US for comparison).

You neglected to notice the time before it got to late, you got caught up in other things and didn't notice. :) - bosquederoble, Dec 10, 2015

I don't think this person speaks English, he says ' my bad!.. dear God almighty.. - annierats, Dec 10, 2015

Yes at some point American English and British English may become separate languages. :D - bosquederoble, Dec 10, 2015

I've heard it said that The US and the UK are the only countries "separated by a common language." ¿Es verdad? - Daniela2041, Dec 10, 2015

And culture, and religion, we are not religious over here, or very few are.. - annierats, Dec 10, 2015

"it got late on me" is lousy English. grrrrrr! - ian-hill, Dec 10, 2015

and can never be translated as desired. - ian-hill, Dec 10, 2015

So is "my bad" - ian-hill, Dec 10, 2015

@annierats: UK is becoming quite religious---Islam. - Daniela2041, Dec 10, 2015

Amazingly enough God sent his son Jesus to set us free from religion: trying to please God by obeying certain rules he wants us to enjoy a relationship with him through his son Jesus Christ...this idea is not religion mankind has confused the two! - FELIZ77, Dec 10, 2015

It's colloquial, but it's common enough where I grew up. There's nothing wrong with colloquial speech in casual contexts. Of course, to limit it to those contexts, one has to realize that it's colloquial. - AnnRon, Dec 10, 2015

That is true Ann - and not expect it to be translatable into another language. - ian-hill, Dec 11, 2015

Answer 3

For me, as Ana said, the correct verb tense should be hubiera o hubiese. I would say:

Hubiera (hubiese) estudiado más anoche, pero se me hizo tarde

Great answer Txta and thanks for the se me hizo tarde. - annierats, Dec 11, 2015

Answer 4

Suggestion: Si hubiera empezado más temprano habría estudiado más anoche. Ya era tarde. This, as you may notice, is a re-phrase: If I were to have started earlier I would have studied more last night, but now it's too late ( Too late in this sense means the chance is gone, the moment has passed, it's too late, ya era tarde).

Please see txta's second part of the problem, much better than mine. - annierats, Dec 11, 2015

That part is what my original answer is. - bosquederoble, Dec 11, 2015

Inded, Bosque, it was just that I didn't know that and the first bit sounded slightly odd , to me, but I'm not a native! - annierats, Dec 11, 2015

Answer 5

enter link description here

Answer 6

I hate to argue (isn't that what we always say when we actually want to) but txustaboy said:

For me, as Ana said, the correct verb tense should be hubiera o hubiese. I would say:

Hubiera (hubiese) estudiado más anoche, pero se me hizo tarde

Annie said this:

Si hubiera empezado más temprano habría estudiado más anoche.

I agree with the grammatical correctness of Annie's sentnece, but it is "habría estudiado" in her statement, in the location that txustaboy said it should be hubiera or hubiese.

In everything I have read in the si part - you can use hubiera or hubiese but not habría and in the conditional part you can use habría or hubiera but not hubiese.

So Annie's can be:

Si hubiera (o hubiese) empezado más temprano habría (o hubiera) estudiado más anoche.

And txustaboy's should be:

Hubiera (habría) estudiado más anoche, pero se me hizo tarde

It is the same as Hubiera (habría) estudiado más anoche, si hubiera (hubiese) tenido más tiempo. In my opinion.

See the answer by Lazarus here:

http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/188807/habra-hubiera-hubiese

Edit to add- as I look around on the web, I can see sites that say all 3 are fine, or only habría should be used. Maybe I should just give it up.

Example:enter link description here

http://educacion.ufm.edu/si-hubiera-habria/

Veamos las diferencias: si hubiera, hubiera; si hubiera, hubiese; si hubiera, habría:

Si hubiera venido, hubiera hablado con él.

Si hubiera venido, hubiese hablado con él.

Si hubiera venido, habría hablado con él.

¿Qué fórmula es mejor? La Academia da por buenas las tres. La estilística nos recomienda solamente la última.

La primera fórmula (hubiera-hubiera) provoca por fuerza una reiteración, nos obliga a escribir dos palabras iguales en un corto margen.

El segundo binomio tampoco es eficaz. El primer verbo nos expone la posibilidad de un hecho que pudo haberse producido, y el segundo (hubiese) da paso a explicar las consecuencias que se pudieron haber derivado de él y que -atención- no se derivaron.

Podríamos haber terminado la frase así: si hubiera venido, estaría en esta comarca (es decir, no sé con seguridad si está en esta comarca o no y, por tanto, tampoco sé si ha venido).

Es lógica en terminaciones era-ía (y no era-ese) se aprecia con claridad en el tiempo simple: si estuviera, estaría. En el castellano actual no cabe si estuviera-estuviese: Si estuviera aquí, estuviese hablando con él.

Habrá de escribirse: si estuviera aquí, estaría hablando con él. Por tanto, y analógicamente:

Si hubiera estado aquí, habría hablado con él.

• See more at: http://educacion.ufm.edu/si-hubiera-habria/#sthash.QWPGpFB3.dpuf

I know this grammar point is more esoteric than most will understand, but I would appreciate thoughts from those in which that is not the case. :) - bosquederoble, Dec 11, 2015

Bosque, I don't know, but in real life, I think i've heard my version or simila, but I'm so often wrong.. Best forget it, I think,txta is a native though.. - annierats, Dec 11, 2015

Txustaboy is a professional writer from Andulacia if I remember correctly. So I have to put a lot of faith in what he says. But what he is saying here if I understand it correctly (which is an if) does not agree with everything I have learned. - bosquederoble, Dec 11, 2015