英語が得意な方へ
アメリカの質問掲示板で質問した際の、返事がよく理解できませんでした。どなたか、分かりやすく訳、または要約をしてくれませんか？
質問
I'm Japanese student studying English
This time, I want to ask about subjunctive mood.If you had behaved such a way in the party, my parents would have said that ( ). In ( ), I want to insert ' I had to go home.' , but is it okay to insert this sentence? 'If I had behaved such a way in the party, my parents would have said that I had to go home.' Is this sentence correct? I can't understand the tense, therefore please tell me about how to change the tense. I'm japanese student studying English, so I couldn't write sentences well.
答え
You are quite correct. The subjunctive mood is used to describe hypothetical cases, regardless of the facts of the matter. They set the scene, so to speak, and what would happen as a consequence should be delivered in the appropriate tense (which has nothing to do with mood). Thus:
"They would have said I had to go home."
"They would have said you were acting foolishly."
"They would have said 'You are a fool,' and turned away from you."
In the last example, the quote would have been delivered in the present of the hypothetical time, and should be rendered that way.
