lhrkll on September 3, 2012 | reply

Haha within half an hour of writing this post, it is the no.2 Google search result for "how to translate english conditional perfect tense into chinese" and about no.5 for "...future perfect..."

Echo on September 3, 2012 | reply

@lhrkll,

For the future perfect tense, I think the most important things are to use 会 and point out the time. Like in the sentence 我“会”在中国工作“一年”.

For the conditional perfect tense, I think using "可能会" is important.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com

christianlpotter on September 3, 2012 | reply

"(Whenever the future perfect clause will happen)我在中国工作一年了" seems the simplest way to express future perfect。For example, 到下个月，我在中国工作一年了。I don't see that there is a need for translating "will have", because it is already in the future, and the condition is met. I think the example of "I will have worked in China for one year" is incomplete, because future perfect needs a time marker to be used.

But...I am also a beginner, so if I am wrong please let me know.

trevelyan on September 3, 2012 | reply

You can also try something like:

明年三月我就在中国三年了。

Next March, I'll have been in China for three years.

richard on September 5, 2012 | reply

@Echo,

is this sentence conditional or future perfect?

i think problably you will not like it (can i use keneng hui)

'wo juede ni keneng hui 可能会 geng bu xihuan'

Echo on September 5, 2012 | reply

@richard,

Future perfect.

However, as Brendan said, we don't really have tense... so as long as the sentence is correct, you don't really need to worry about what tense it is.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com

Brendan on September 5, 2012 | reply

The thing to remember here is that Chinese doesn't have tenses -- it conveys this information differently. Conditionals and counterfactuals are formed by including the conditions ("哎，我要是穿越时空以后没踩到那只蝴蝶..." / "If only I hadn't gone back in time and stepped on that butterfly...") and then the results ("...现在就不会到处都是恐龙了" / "...there wouldn't be dinosaurs all over the place today."). As with most other things in Chinese, the context will carry the burden of information that English and other languages tend to put on the verb.

(Early morning; insufficient caffeine; all disclaimers apply.)

Xiao Hu on September 5, 2012 | reply

@IRHKII, Richard,

I feel compelled to third the notion that Chinese has no tenses, so you can only rely on an aspects and context to carry time information. As long as you put the time that you are speaking about and the information that you are trying to express, then the context should take care of the rest.

EG:

截至到明年三月，中国有害的"地沟油"我就已经吃了三年了，而我却活下来啦！

In March of next year, I will have eaten pernicious Chinese "swill oil" for three years, and will have lived to tell the tale!