Latin for: The star which is now visible at night might not have been the star which was now visible at night?

Question

I'm interested in whether the translation of this into Latin employs a subjunctive.
I'd also be interested in its translation into Greek and other languages.

I'd also be interested in people's views on whether this sentence actually says something true.

Again, consider the sentence "the star which is now visible at night might not have been the star which is now visible at night".
Does this strke you as true/false/ungrammatical?

What about its translations into other languages?

Answer 1

Yes, it would require the use of the subjunctive in Latin. But it makes absolutely no sense. After you take out the subordinate clauses, your main sentence reads, "The star might not have been the star." The "might" part makes it conditional, therefore the subjunctive would be required. But the two clauses conflict with each other, making the sentence ungrammatical.

The first sentence has a change in verb tense (is/was), but the two "nows" and the two clausal verb tenses make it ungrammatical. The second "now" should be a "then" and the "have been" a "be" for it to make any sense at all.

The second sentence differs slightly from the first, basically meaning "the star you see now might not be the star you see now". A play on your sense of reality maybe, but basically gibberish when you take it as a whole.

Answer 2

Stella iam nocte fulgens potest non stella eadem esse quae in hoc tempo fulgebat.

I am separated from my Latin dictionary by thousands of miles and this is the best I could come up with. No subjunctive.

To the second part of your question: utterly baffling. You are obviously not a believer in the sequence of tenses rule.

Answer 3

Japanese: 夜今目に見える星〔スター〕は、夜今目に見えた星〔スター〕ではなかったかもしれません。
Spanish: La estrella que es ahora visible de noche no quizás había sido la estrella que fue ahora visible de noche.
Russian: Звезда, которая является теперь видимой ночью, возможно, не была звездой, которая была теперь видима ночью.
Traditional Chinese: 現在晚上是可見的星可能不是現在晚上是可見的星。
Dutch: De ster die nu zichtbaar is' s nachts had niet kunnen geweest zijn de ster die nu zichtbaar' s nachts was.

Sorry, Latin is not my strong point. Hope the above provides some help.

Answer 4

You obviously have NOTHING to do.