Ils n'auraient jamais pu comprendre tes raisons

yellamaraju s.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Ils n'auraient jamais pu comprendre tes raisons

"Ils n'auraient jamais pu comprendre tes raisons" and "Il n'aurait jamais pu comprendre tes raisons". Both sentences sound alike. How to differentiate and write correctly on dictation?
Asked 6 years ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Clairvoyance? ;) No, seriously, you would need to know the context to distinguish. But there are such issues in every language:

It's a bear skin.
It's a bare skin.

Here is another ideosyncrazy of English. Try to wrap your head wround this grammatically perfectly correct sentence:

THE COMPLEX HOUSES MARRIED AND SINGLE SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

Solution: The complex (of buildings) houses soldiers (who are either married or single) along with their families.

You just gotta embrace it! ;)

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

 

AurélieKwiziq team member

Yes, Chris is right on this one (again!) :)

Here, only the context will help you know which one it is.

Bonne journée !

Anne D.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

And of course, in English "could" can sometimes signify an action that  you did habitually/ used to be able to do e.g. "When I was young, you could swim in the river safely". I guess this would trigger l’imparfait in French?

Ils n'auraient jamais pu comprendre tes raisons

"Ils n'auraient jamais pu comprendre tes raisons" and "Il n'aurait jamais pu comprendre tes raisons". Both sentences sound alike. How to differentiate and write correctly on dictation?

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