# Why would



## zhizn9797

I have always encountered difficulty translating this phrase. For example the phrase "Why would anyone ever abuse such a beautiful family"?

My try - зачем кому-нибудь когда-нибудь жестоко обращаться с такой красивой семьей? 
Thanks.


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## Maroseika

This is too literal translation. Usually "why would" is interpreted as с чего бы:
С чего бы кому-то обижать эту прекрасную семью? (I think "beautiful" doesn't mean красивый here).


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## zhizn9797

Thanks!


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## zhizn9797

So does the phrase "Why would anyone exceed the speed limit?" translate to "с чего бы кому-то превысить установленную скорость?"


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## Maroseika

zhizn9797 said:


> So does the phrase "Why would anyone exceed the speed limit?" translate to "с чего бы кому-то превысить установленную скорость?"


A sidenote: in this case better say превышать.
Well, с чего бы is not the only possible variant, it's rather colloquial, so other variants are also possible, depending on the context. In this case I'd say  Зачем (кто-то станет превышать скорость / кому-то превышать скорость).


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## zhizn9797

Which is better to use Зачем or с чего бы?


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## Rosett

Maroseika said:


> This is too literal translation. Usually "why would" is interpreted as с чего бы:
> С чего бы кому-то обижать эту прекрасную семью? (I think "beautiful" doesn't mean красивый here).


"С чего бы/С какой стати вообще кому бы то ни было домогаться до столь замечательной семьи?"


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## zhizn9797

I am having trouble translating your sentence.


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## Maroseika

zhizn9797 said:


> Which is better to use Зачем or с чего бы?


C чего бы is more colloquial, зачем is neutral. So the choice depends on the style and background.


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## Enquiring Mind

zhizn9797 said:


> I am having trouble translating your sentence.



Why would anyone ever abuse such a beautiful family?
= С чего бы/С какой стати вообще кому бы то ни было домогаться до столь замечательной семьи?
[Literally] Why for anyone to go after such a beautiful family?
Вообще adds emotion, emphasis, generality, bewilderment to "why", as in "anyway, why ...?" or "why the heck ...?" or "in any case, why ...?" or "why .... ever...?"

[The кому бы то ни было домогаться is being used here as an impersonal construction (used a lot in Russian) with a kind of 'ethical dative' - кому? There's a thread illustrating its use here.]


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## Rosett

"Вообще" is aimed to reflect "ever" in the original sentence
"Кому бы то ни было" also reflects "ever (for) anyone."
"Домогаться до" is more like "to harass", but also has meaning of "to abuse, to molest".


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## zhizn9797

How are you supposed to choose whether or not to follow С чего бы/С какой стати with an infinitive, future tense, or past tense. I've seen all three verb forms used. How does verb form change a sentence's meaning with  С чего бы/С какой стати?


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## Maroseika

zhizn9797 said:


> How are you supposed to choose whether or not to follow С чего бы/С какой стати with an infinitive, future tense, or past tense. I've seen all three verb forms used. How does verb form change a sentence's meaning with  С чего бы/С какой стати?


In general, Past and Future verbs  just refer to the actions in the past or the future. Infinitive refers to the action indefinite in time and therefore may refer to any time:
С чего бы он пошел в пивную, если он не пьет? (he has already gone away somewhere)
С чего бы он пойдет в пивную? (he has not gone anywhere yet)
C чего бы ему идти в пивную? (depending on the context, this may refer to the past or to the future).

However in some cases the verb in the Past Tense may refer to the future and vice versa:
- Лучше пусть сделает это сегодня, а то завтра его из пивной не вытащишь.
- С чего бы он пошел в пивную, если он не пьет?
- Да нет, он теперь снова пьет.

- Он вчера ничего не сделал, небось в пивной весь вечер просидел.
- С какой стати он пойдет в пивную? Он же больше не пьет.

I think such inversion emphasises improbability of the supposition.


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## elek91

I'd like to add just another translation for the case when there is "who/anyone" in the sentence; I'd translate it as "кому могло прийти в голову...(inf.v.)". It's may be situational, but still.


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## zhizn9797

кому вообще могло прийти в голову жестоко обращаться с такой замечательной семьей? Is this an accurate translation of the initial sentence I wrote down at the beginning of the thread?


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## Sobakus

zhizn9797 said:


> кому вообще могло прийти в голову жестоко обращаться с такой замечательной семьей? Is this an accurate translation of the initial sentence I wrote down at the beginning of the thread?


Unfortunately, you didn't specify whether someone did actually mistreat the family or not, even after *Maroseika*'s last post. Whether your translation is accurate or not depends entirely on this.


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## zhizn9797

This is a hypothetical question so that means that nobody has mistreated the family (at least not yet).


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## Rosett

zhizn9797 said:


> кому вообще могло прийти в голову жестоко обращаться с такой замечательной семьей? Is this an accurate translation of the initial sentence I wrote down at the beginning of the thread?





zhizn9797 said:


> This is a hypothetical question so that means that nobody has mistreated the family (at least not yet).


In this case, you should use "может"


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## zhizn9797

Thanks. I thought about using previously "может" but wasn't sure if it would be correct.


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