“If you had been there in Egypt, what kind of welcome would you have given?”
Try translating that into Spanish. That’s just what I did today, when I did my first presentation in Spanish for a group of Christian young adults today. I definitely bit off more than I could chew, getting all theological with the topic of why people should volunteer with refugees. I referred to the story of baby Jesus and family fleeing to Egypt just after the birth to escape Herod, who was killing all the boys under age two. I then suggested it was interesting to wonder what kind of welcome they received in Egypt. And, this led to the crucial question—which I repeated three times in the presentation for emphasis—if you had been in Egypt, what kind of welcome would you have done? It was such a strong point that I couldn’t resist (and I’ve never heard it used before).
But, my gosh, the verb tenses! I pulled out the textbook and Amy helped too. Still, we got it wrong, and Juan was kind enough to correct it before my presentation. The presentation went well. It was 30 minutes, with a Power Point and all. I was seriously nervous, but it went pretty well. Juan is great and was there to tie up any loose ends after the presentation. Oh, and the correct translation is:
¿Si hubieses estado allí en Egipto, que tipo de bienvenida le hubieras dado?
How’s that for some crazy subjunctive verb tenses?
