...hätten sein dürfen

English translation: should not have been

19:19 Oct 9, 2005

German to English translations [Non-PRO]
Bus/Financial - Economics / Asia crisis

German term or phrase: ...hätten sein dürfen

I'm completely thrown by these three infinitives in a row which are at the very end of this very long sentence:

"Die Stimmung in der europäischen Wirtschaft, die sich zur Jahreswende deutlich verdüstert hatte, wird sich dadurch schon bald aufhellen, zumal die Klima- indikatoren vielfach auf Entwicklungen wie den Einbruch der Exporte nach Asien reagierten, die bereits zu Beginn des Jahres 1998 absehbar waren und mithin an sich kein Anlaß zu einer stärke-ren Revision der Erwartungen *hätten sein dürfen*.

This is definitely a question of grammar, and would much appreciate your help!

Bianca Jacobsohn KudoZ activity Questions: 239 (none open) (17 closed without grading) Answers: 71 France
Local time: 00:48

English translation:should not have been

Explanation:
which had already been foreseeable in the beginning of 1998 and consequently should not have been in itself a reason to revise expectations

Selected response from:

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 16:48

Grading comment

Thanks Kim!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +2

shouldn't have been

Anne Schulz

3 +2

should not have been

Kim Metzger

4 +1

[NFG] Grammatical explanation

Richard Benham

--should not have given rise to a substantial revision of expectations

KARIN ISBELL

Answers

9 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

...hätten sein dürfen shouldn't have been

Explanation:
is the construction of this sentence

Anne Schulz
Germany
Local time: 00:48
Native speaker of: German

12 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

...hätten sein dürfen

should not have been

Explanation:
which had already been foreseeable in the beginning of 1998 and consequently should not have been in itself a reason to revise expectations

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 16:48
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 24

Grading comment

Thanks Kim!

42 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

...hätten sein dürfen [NFG] Grammatical explanation

Explanation:
Modal verbs and a couple of others use the infinitive rather than the past participle for the perfect tense. Another pecularity of these verbs is that, in subordinate clauses, the "main" verb is not shunted to the end. That explains why "hätten" is not at the end, and "dürfen" is in the infinitive.

In fact, it might be better practice to use a different construction in English, e.g. "ought not to have occasioned a drastic revision" or whatever.

Richard Benham
France
Local time: 00:48
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks for the grammatical explanation - this is extremely helpful.

2 hrs confidence:

...hätten sein dürfen --should not have given rise to a substantial revision of expectations

Explanation:
general dictionaries

KARIN ISBELL
United States
Local time: 15:48
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English,

German
PRO pts in category: 11

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...hätten sein dürfen

English translation: should not have been

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