Stringing Verbs Together

Hola, Through the day, I like to try and translate into Spanish various things that I or someone else has said (in my mind of course). I’m not sure how beneficial this is, or if it’s another way to pick up some bad habits, but I like to do it anyway. In the movie ‘Hunt for Red October’, the dying Russian officer says “I would like to have seen Montana.” I would translate this as “Me gustaría haber visto Montana.” I think I have that right, but it’s 3 verbs in a row so I’m not sure. But let’s complicate matters – suppose he had said “I would like to have been able to see Montana.” I would translate that as “Me gustaría haber podido ver Montana.” I’m far less confident here, and that’s 4 verbs in a row. This is a brain twister for me, any thoughts or expert help? Randy

I think the last one would be "Me gustaria habria podido ver Montana" Ya llamé a mi novia (Puertoriqueña) por teléfono, y la respuesta es muy difícil para mi.

“I would like to have been able to see Montana.” I would also translate as “Me gustaría haber podido ver Montana.” me gustaría = I would like to have = haber been able is past participle of to be able (poder) which is podido to see = ver

I believe that the one sentence should actually have been "I would have liked to have seen Montana," and would be translated as "me habria gustado haber visto Montana." I believe the other should have been "I would have liked to have been able to see Montana," and woud be translated "me habria gustado haber podido ver Montana."

Hola amigos, This is really interesting, and I must say your translations are mostly right, but I think Litlmike is the closest. There are so many ways to say, "I would like to have been able to see Montana," that it can get a bit confusing. The way I would say it is: "Me hubiera gustado poder ver Montana," which is in the past perfect subjunctive tense. You have to remember that the sentence was meant as something you would have liked to do in the past, "would have" being the key. Looking at the sentence in English, it should really be, "I would have liked to been able to see Montana"... just a thought as this looks more like a proper English sentence to me. (Saying that I'm no English expert!) But like I said, no one is wrong. In conversational Spanish I don't think there is one person who talks in the absolute proper way (the written way). We tend to mix it up a bit... just something else to watch out for. Anyway, you guys are doing a great job with the posts and helping each other. Please keep it up and remember, myself and Amy are always watching so whereever we can help we will. Good luck and keep at it. Mauricio

Mauricio, Thanks. That was very helpful: "Me hubiera gustado poder ver Montana". It also highlights the problem of trying to translate literally from English to Spanish, or vice versa, rather than trying to "translate" the meaning of the sentence. Another question: ¿es correcto decir "ver Montana" o es preferible decir "visitar Montana" en esta frase? Tony

In my experience, I would hear this phrase as: *Me hubiera gustado poder conocer Montana.* _I would liked to have been able to know Montana._ That's because really, when you're talking about wishing you could have seen a place, what you really wish is that you could have gone there and known what it was like. For example, when I was traveling, people often told me: * Me gustaría conocer tu país.* _I'd like to know your country._ In other words, they'd like to visit the US someday and get to know what it's like.

Hola Amy, Interestingly, I just listened to lesson 6.1 and I understand what you're saying about CONOCER being a better choice than VER. Thanks to you and Mauricio for your help. Every little bit seems to open up a little more light for me. Randy