would have doneは“推測の結果”（２）

英文読解

４．would/would have/will haveの比較


（１）“would do”と“would have done”について
さて、ふとwould doってなんだっけと思ってしまうこともあるので、would have doneとの比較を見てみます。


a habit of drinking‐WordReference.com

  • “My grandfather had a habit of drinking a glass of tea after meals when he was in London.”

Could you help me with a verb expressing “had a habit of “? Is it “would”?

  • My grandfather would drink a glass of tea after meals when he was in London.


I am also wondering if it is “would drink” or “would have drunk”?

  • My grandfather would have drunk a glass of tea after meals when he was in London.

“Would have drunk a glass of tea” implies that“he did not drink a glass of tea”:

  • My grandfather would have drunk a glass of tea, if someone had kindly offered him one (but they didn't).

would have doneにすると反実仮想になるよ、という意見。
これはこれで一つの見方ですが、前後の文脈がない以上はなんとでも解釈できてしまうのです。

  • My grandfather would have drunk a glass of tea after meals when he was in London

is a bit different.
It suggests he did have the habit generally but that you don't have any direct evidence that he indulged it in London; you are extrapolating perhaps from his known behaviour: he always drank a glass of tea after meals, it was a habit to which he was extremely attached, so you can say with confidence that he would have drunk a glass of tea after meals when he was in London.

would have doneは事実を元にした過去の出来事に対する推測というのはいいとして、wouldの例文はwhen節で過去の出来事だということが明示されているのでみんな“習慣”と解しています。


AE/BE　I thought it／would be／would have been easier to post a thread here.‐WordReference.com

  • I thought it would be (BE) easier to post a thread here!
  • I thought it would have been (AE) easier to post a thread here!

thinkをどう捉えるかによって解釈の仕方が増えてしまいますが、wouldとwould haveの時制の違いがよく分かります。


（２）would have doneとwill have doneについて
would have drunk or will have drunk‐WordReference.com

My grandfather would have drunk a glass of tea after meals when he was in London.
and
My grandfather will have drunk a glass of tea after meals when he was in London.


What difference do people perceive between these last two?

  • My grandfather would have drunk a glass of tea after meals when he was in London.

Either he didn't but might have in other circumstances, or else we surmise that he had the habit.

  • My grandfather will have drunk a glass of tea after meals when he was in London.

We expect to discover that he did.

will have doneは未来完了の過去への推測、would have doneについては習慣ととる人や過去への推測ととらえる人など意見が分かれていました。
やはり前後が分かる状態で比較しないと難しいですね。






５．ペーパーバックに出てくるwould have done
ペーパーバック小説の時制は物語時制なので少し注意が必要です。


would have been ...‐WordReference.com

(A coroner is doing an autopsy)
Coroner: If I were this guy, I would have been popping pain pills. Ten stitches off the orbital bone, fractured nasal bone, all recent.


The day after the autopsy, if somebody is talking about what coroner said yesterday, would it be appropriate to say "The coroner said if he had been the guy he would have had been popping pills." ?

would have beenを時制の一致でずらすとwould have had beenになるの？という質問。

Absolutely right, Wookie.

OKということですが、少なくとも小説ではそうなりません。
would have doneはwould have doneのままです。
※話し言葉でhadn't'veというのは有名ですが、書き言葉において上の人のように英語学習者に対して問題なしって教えるのは勘弁してほしいです。
“If I would have”をあえて真似する必要がないみたいなもんで、用例として知っていてもいいというのと、使っていいかどうかは全く別の話です。






さてwould have doneがペーパーバックでどのように使われているのかを拾い出してみましたので紹介します。


★使用例１

  • “…(It) would have destroyed the world. …”


―Douglas J. Preston＆Lincoln Child, The Cabinet of Curiosities, p.628

いわゆる反実仮想。
発話時点で世界が崩壊していないことを話者が知っていて、“仮定法過去完了”の帰結節になっています。


★使用例２

  • There was about a four-inch spatial separation between the bullet wounds, which formed the points of a triangle. Bosch knew that three quick shots from close range would usually have made tighter cluster.


―Michael Connelly, 9Dragons, p.13

これもいわゆる反実仮想。
至近距離から撃たれたならもっと間隔が狭くなるはず（tighter）だが、実際は間隔が広く（spatial）なっている。


★使用例３

  • Bosch shook his head. There was a time when he would not have been questioned. The door would have been immediately opened.


―Michael Connelly, 9Dragons, p.415

教科書通りの反実仮想。


★使用例４

“No casings that we can see,” Lucas said. "The shooter cleaned those up and then he was smart enough to pull the disc out of the recorder in the back. …（中略）…Unless it was a revolver,” he said. “Then there would have been no casings to clean up.”


―Michael Connelly, 9Dragons, p.12

従来通り読むなら「“仮定法”だけれども反実仮想ではない」パターン。
もしくは、「リボルバーだったならこういう結果だったはず」、という過去への推測。しかもけっこう自信満々。
（現場には薬莢が落ちていない。凶器がオートマチックなら犯人は証拠を残さぬよう薬莢を拾ったはず。でももしリボルバーだったら薬莢が排出されないから拾う必要もないことになる。）
時々こんなふうにちょっと自慢げだったり自分の推理をひけらかそうとする気持ちがあるのも“推測のwould have done”の特徴です。


★使用例５

  • “…The victim would have had a hard time making a payment of two hundred sixteen dollars, if that's what you think happened.”


―Michael Connelly, 9Dragons, p.53

これも“仮定法”ととってもいいし“過去への推量”ととってもいい。
とにかく過去の出来事に対する推測。目撃者がいないから誰も定かなことは分からないが、状況証拠をもとに推測するとそういうことになるはずだ、ということ。


★使用例６

  • “The first shot was to the upper left chest, the projectile piercing the right ventricle of the heart and impacting the upper vertebrae, severing the spinal cord. The victim would have immediately dropped to the floor. …（中略）…I'd say he lasted no more than thirty seconds.”


―Michael Connelly, 9Dragons, p.80

検視結果から過去の出来事を推測。
また最後にI would sayと言っているところ。さきに推測の意味でwouldと言ったので、その続きはhe lastedという形になっている。


★使用例７

“And Laksmi would have been gloved up when she found it.”
“Right. What's up, Ross?”


―Michael Connelly, 9Dragons, p.89

RossはLaskmiが薬莢を見つけた瞬間に立ち会ったわけではないが、通常検視官は検視の際には手袋をしているという常識から考えて過去の状況を推測。


★使用例８

  • “I asked that, and they said that never came up. It wouldn't have, anyway.”


―Michael Connelly, 9Dragons, p.191

（彼らに訊ねたら、その話題が普段の会話に出てきたことはないということであった。しかし彼らが本当のことを言っているかどうかはこの際関係ない。私は彼らの普段の会話を直接聴いたことはないが、常識的に考えてその話題が彼らの会話に出てきたはずがない。）


★使用例９

  • “It was hidden in the house. As I knew it would be. I knew (he) would not have destroyed it. He would have kept a single copy for himself.”


―Douglas J. Preston＆Lincoln Child, The Cabinet of Curiosities, p.626

（それは家の中に隠されていた。私がにらんでいた通りだった。彼がそれを廃棄したはずがないということを私は知っていたのだ。彼が予備を作っておいたに違いないということを。）

もともと“He would not have destroyed it.”だったとみるか、それとも“I know he will not have destroyed it.”から時制の一致で過去形にしたとみるかはさておき、過去の時点で行なった（さらなる）過去への推測ということです。


★使用例10

  • Then he realized. Hilzoy's mobile. The appointment with Alex and the VCs would have been in the electronic calender. And Alex had called him, what, twenty times that morning? All those calls, and Alex's number, would have been in the log.


―Barry Eisler, Fault Line, p.41

「〜だったに違いない」
確信。


★使用例11

  • “Had to. People in that neighborhood would have heard gunshots. I'm sure plenty of them were looking out their windows. …”


―Barry Eisler, Fault Line, p.168

「〜だったに違いない」
これも確信。
使用例４以降を「“would have done”＝反実仮想」だと思って読むと文脈と合わなくなって混乱してしまいます。






６．Yahoo! Answersでのwould have doneの使用例
過去の推測として使われているwould have doneの使用例をYahoo! Answersで検索してみました。
もっと面白いのがヒットするかと思ったら歴史ものばっかり。

  • What plants/flowers would have been historically planted in the midwest at the turn of the century?　★
  • What do you think the ancient Egyptians would have thought solar eclipses to be?　★
  • What would have been included in a letter home from the trenches in WW1?　★
  • As we know lots of Indian reseachers are working at NASA what qualifications they would have taken?　★
  • What kind of camera would have been used by a French photographer in the 1930s?　★
  • What languages would have been spoken by the soldiers during the Hundred Years' War?　★




７．まとめ

  • will have done

　（１）現在から見た未来への推測
　（２）現在から見た過去への推測

  • would have done

　（１）未来完了が時制の一致で過去形になったもの
　（２）事実・常識を元にした過去の出来事に対する推測（事実に沿っているかどうかは文脈による）


“would have done”が事実に沿っているかいないかはあくまで前後の文脈によります。
Past Unreal Conditional‐Englishpage.com

  • If Jack had worked harder, he would have earned more money. Unfortunately, he was lazy and he didn't earn much.

例えばこの文では前後の文脈があるおかげで反実仮想の意味として読むことができます。


しかし、
He would have earned more money.
のところだけ抜き出すと、もはや反実仮想だとは言いきれなくなります。
ひょっとしたら「彼と最後に会ったのはかれこれ３０年も前のこと、その後彼は新大陸に向かってしまったから消息も分からないが、勤勉な男だったし商魂も逞しかったから間違いなく向こうでも成功しただろう」という文脈の一部かもしれないのです。


さて、前回の冒頭の引用例に戻ります。

  • “I believe he would have indeed been paralyzed. But the projectile lodged in the fourth thoracic vertebra, cutting the cord there. This would have certainly caused paralysis, but it would begin at that point. The arms could still function. It would be a matter of time. As I said, his body would have ceased function inside a minute.”


― Michael Connelly, 9Dragons, p.81

これも同じように、検視結果から考えて犯行時の状況を自信ありげに推測しています。
この場合の“would have done”は、ホームズがワトソンに対して話すときの「常識的に考えて当たり前だろう」的な感じが一番しっくりきます。