Past Perfect Translations

An 1B, Review an 2B
Translations Past Perfect
• Lefterică avusese o noapte de chin. Nu trecuse niciodată prin aşa ceva. De când o
cunoscuse pe Paulina, totul se limpezise şi se înfrumuseţase în jurul său. I se părea
că lumea vedea ca el şi se bucura cu el. Ba, ceva mai mult, avea credinţa că atât de
mult îl iubesc toţi, încât, dacă el ar fi greşit cu ceva şi ar fi stricat din aşezarea
aceasta minunată, pe care nu o înţelegea prea bine şi nu ştia de unde vine, ar fi
sărit unul sau toţi cei care îl iubeau să dreagă şi să-l dojenească. Aseară a crezut
că, deştept cum e, înţelesese ce l-a apropiat de Paulina. Pe urmă însă a văzut că s-a
înşelat, şi nu numai asupra lui, ci şi asupra ei. Altfel îşi închipuia el că o să fie
venirea femeii în casa lor. După cele dintâi şovăieli, între ce ar fi vrut el să fie şi
ce era, a simţit cum i se urcă o mână pe piept şi-l pipăie înspre gât să i se înfigă. Şi
abia la loton lumină s-a făcut. Dacă l-ar fi rupt cineva în bucăţi, n-ar fi suferit mai
cumplit. [HW LECTURE 7, an 1B] (Ion Marin Sadoveanu – Sfârşit de veac în Bucureşti)
Translations past perfect
• Trecusera luni de zile de cand nu o mai vazuse in gandul lui. It had been months since he
had seen her in his mind./ It was months since he had seen her in his mind.
• Stia numai ca a vazut-o, stia cum fusese, dar nu mai simtise acea acreala de care i-a fost
cuprins tot sufletul in timpul cat a stat ea la Curtici.
• As long as / while she stayed at Curtici, there was no smile on his face, his food did not taste
the same, he did sleep as he used to. / and he no longer slept like he used to. // While she
had been in Curtici, he hadn’t been able to sleep or to eat.
• Cat a stat dansa la Curtici, zambet in fata lui nu s-a ivit, mancarea lui n-a fost mancare, si
somnul n-a fost somn, si totusi de cate ori vorbea de plecare ea, ii venea sa racneasca
[yell,holler] si-si infigea mainile in solduri.
• Ramand singur apoi singur el incepu sa se plimbe prin curtea mare si desarta. Avea destul
timp pana dimineata: putea sa mearga si sa se intoarca, fara sa stie Sofron in ce treburi a
umblat.
Translations Past Perfect
5. Translate the following, identifying the underlined phrases:
1) Had she paid any heed whatsoever to my advice, she would have been the winner in this game.
2) Grandfather was so raving mad when he found out about the robbery, that he had the thief hanged
in no time
3) Jane had had to get her lover out of the house before her cuckold husband came in.
4) He drank the ale as if he hadn’t had a drop in years.
5) You hadn’t been there for a year at the time.
6) After she had had him whipped for his impudence, she cut his protests with a large sum of
money.
7) Hadn’t you better mortgage your house and sell the stuff at an auction?
8) He had no doubt been kicked by his own donkey.
9) Stubborn as a mule as he was, he had still been able to change his mind about the affair.
10)He had however been terribly surprised, not to say dumbfounded when seeing his new grandson.
11)He could not be mistaken, this was his flesh and blood, as he had been told.
 Past Perfect is used by the narrator to ‘move narration forward’, thus being the main verbal form that
helps the writer build his story. Translate the following paragraph.

On the morning when the valley, gloved in a prayer-mat, punched him on the nose, father had been trying,
absurdly, to pretend that nothing had changed. So he had risen in the bitter cold of four-fifteen, washed
himself in the prescribed fashion, dressed and put on his father’s astrakhan cap; after which he had carried
the rolled cheroot of the prayer-mat into the small lakeside garden in front of their old dark house and
unrolled it over the waiting tussock.
The ground felt deceptively soft under his feet and made him simultaneously uncertain and wary.
(Salman Rushdie – Midnight Children)
Conditionals and past perfect
• 1. Sa fi sarit Emilia peste sant, ar fi fost felicitata de toti sportivii care au incercat dar nu
au reusit.
• 2. Sa se fi strecurat Ana printre oamenii adunati in fata bacaniei, si-ar fi vazut cainele
mancand carnea macelarului. [Had Ana slipped through
• 3. Sa fi intrat Camelia cu forta in camera surorii ei, o gasea goala, fiindca sora ei fugise cu
un marinar.
• 4. Sa fi topait Eric tot drumul spre casa, parintii lui ar fi fost ingrijorati si ar fi trimis dupa
doctor.
• 5. De ar fi reusit Eugen sa iasa din multime, ar fi ajuns la muzeu unde il astepta pictorul.
• 6. De ar fi inaintat Maria pe camp in masina ei cea noua, ar fi fost observata de departe si
toti copiii ar fi alergat sa o intampine. [If / Had she wound her way on the field
Conditionals and Past Perfect
• Had Mike headed for the garage, he would have been prevented from
going in by his wife who was cleaning it, and had been working there
for hours.
• Had Emma edged her way along the garden wall, that man would not
have been able to take a photo of her, and now she wouldn’t be in the
tabloids.
• Had Eric hopped all the way home, his parents would have been
worried and would have sent for the doctor.
Past perfect and adverbs
• Stia ca era acolo de mai bine de doua luni si se simtea obosit.
• Si-a dat seama ca asteapta de mai bine de o ora si tot nu primise
niciun raspuns.
• A recunoscut ca se comporta urat in ultima vreme.
• A realizat ca inca nu o intalnise.
• Past prefect can combine with any type of adverb, even with definite
time adverbials which are specified as [+THEN]. (even with those
types of adverbs that combine with past tense.)