"I have been able to be sober for twenty years now."

[Michael Zwingli]

Hi, all. I am trying to express something in composition, and having a bit of difficulty with it. I want to say: "I have been able to be sober for twenty years now." The best that I can come up with for translating this into Latin is: "Ab annis (ablative?) viginti sobrius esse potui", but the syntax of this seems somehow unwieldy to me. May I have some examples of how this might be expressed in Latin? (This is not for homework or schoolwork - I am not taking a Latin class)

 

[Bitmap]

I would say viginti adhuc annos sobrius sum.

 

[Bitmap]

But I've just had a drink.

 

[Michael Zwingli]

I would say viginti adhuc annos sobrius sum.

Thanks, Bitmap. Hmmm..."Thus far twenty years I am sober." Might that be altered a bit to: viginti adhuc annos sobrius fui, "Thus far twenty years I have been sober." or does that appear strange in Latin?

 

[Bitmap]

Thanks, Bitmap. Hmmm..."Thus far twenty years I am sober." Might that be altered a bit to: viginti adhuc annos sobrius fui, "Thus far twenty years I have been sober." or does that appear strange in Latin?

Latin would use the present tense here where English would use the present perfect.

Note that I also removed the "to have been able". It feels a bit weird to me to put it in there. In English, you would phrase a sentence that way in order to say that A) you have been able to do so and B) at the same time you succeeded at doing so. But it seems to me that Romans had a slightly different understanding of that phrasing. To them, "I have been able" could probably be read in both ways: "the possibility was there and I lived up to it" and "the possibility was there, but I did something else" (something you would express as "I could have" in English).
Leaving out the modal verb carries the same message and should be enough.

I shall tag @Pacifica, though, to see if she agrees. I might be on thin ice, here (with the latter; I'm pretty sure about the present tense).

 

[Michael Zwingli]

Thank you, sir.

But I've just had a drink.

A nice hefeweisen to celebrate October, perhaps?

 

[Bitmap]

Thank you, sir.

A nice hefeweisen to celebrate October, perhaps?

Hefeweizen is more of a beer that you drink in a beer garden in the summer, when it's nice and sunny.

The Oktoberfest beer is a rather strong Pils actually (with 6-7%), and winterly things like Christmas beer also go in that direction. I'm pretty sure Hefeweizen is less popular in the cold season.

Anyway, I had a Martini extra dry.

 

[Michael Zwingli]

The Oktoberfest beer is a rather strong Pils actually (with 6-7%), and winterly things like Christmas beer also go in that direction. I'm pretty sure Hefeweizen is less popular in the cold season.

Haha, for me it's a 'Gansett year round...that's the best I can afford.

 

[Quasus]

Might that be altered a bit to: viginti adhuc annos sobrius fui, "Thus far twenty years I have been sober." or does that appear strange in Latin?

I think the perfect implies that you have just had a drink. The streak is broken.

 

[Michael Zwingli]

I think the perfect implies that you have just had a drink. The streak is broken.

By god, I think you're right! I didn't apprehend that at all... So, maybe: viginti adhuc annos sobrius eram? I think that Bitmap must be right with sum.

This "thinking like a Roman" business is tough stuff. And for me especially! I've been trying to learn to "Walk like an Egyptian" since the mid 80's, and I still can't do it!

 

[Deleted member 13757]

By god, I think you're right! I didn't apprehend that at all... So, maybe: viginti adhuc annos sobrius eram?

sum

 

[Agrippa]

Annum iam vicesimum primum sobrius sum. (... for 20 years...)

Cf. Cicero, Manil. 7: "Mithridates annum iam vicesimum tertium regnat" (... for 22 years...).

 

[Pacifica]

Latin would use the present tense here where English would use the present perfect.

Note that I also removed the "to have been able". It feels a bit weird to me to put it in there. In English, you would phrase a sentence that way in order to say that A) you have been able to do so and B) at the same time you succeeded at doing so. But it seems to me that Romans had a slightly different understanding of that phrasing. To them, "I have been able" could probably be read in both ways: "the possibility was there and I lived up to it" and "the possibility was there, but I did something else" (something you would express as "I could have" in English).
Leaving out the modal verb carries the same message and should be enough.

I shall tag @Pacifica, though, to see if she agrees. I might be on thin ice, here (with the latter; I'm pretty sure about the present tense).

I'm not entirely sure, either, but as soon as I saw the phrase I was bothered by the "have been able", too, thinking "maybe that'll sound weird in Latin", so on the face of it I share your feeling that it's better without it.

Something else: I would've thought that "now" would have been iam here. I'm not sure about adhuc but maybe you've got a reason for using it.

 

[Serenus]

The "Perfect" (in its semantic sense in linguistics), so the kinds of things expressed "I have done" and "I have been doing", can be expressed with the Latin (morphological) present or perfect tenses. The Latin perfect tense in this case focuses on the action you have done as finished / accomplished though, while with the present tense, it is still ongoing.

Adapted from Allen & Greenough, §473:
Diūturnī silentī ... fīnem hodiernus diēs attulit.
This day has (now) put an end to my long-continued silence.
(Cicero, Pro Marcello 1; telic punctual, attulī is the perfect tense of afferō)

Adapted from Allen & Greenough, §466:
..., sed adhūc Plancius mē retinet.
..., but so far Plancius has kept me here.
(Cicero, Ad Familiares 14.1.3; present tense)
or: ..., but (so far) Plancius has still been keeping me here.

A use of this latter construction with the present tense that I find of particular interest, with the conjunction cum:
Quam multi anni sunt cum bella a proconsulibus et a propraetoribus administrantur, ...!
'It has been so many years since wars have been managed by proconsuls and propraetors, ...!' (i.e. since they started managing wars, as they're still managing them)
(Cicero, De Divinatione 2.76)

 

[Bitmap]

Something else: I would've thought that "now" would have been iam here. I'm not sure about adhuc but maybe you've got a reason for using it.

I simply thought that both adhuc and iam were ok here.