Не опоздай я...

[freiburg234.livejournal.com]

Dear Community,

"Не опоздай я вчера на свидание, мы бы не поссорились." (Had I not arrived late to the meeting, we would not have fought.)


In looking at the above sentence/construction, my first thought was that there was a typographical error in the word "опоздай", which, to my mind, should have been written "опоздал".

However, I've been reliably informed that in this context "опоздай" is not an error.

Is "Не опоздай я..." equal to "Если бы я не опознал..."?

Can you please explain to me the use of what appears to be the imperative to refer to a past situation that one evidently wishes had not occurred? Are there other uses of this technique? What's the grammatical logic for its use?

Thank you for your kind input.

ФБ

Comments

[anc-q.livejournal.com]

you're absolutely right here it means "Если бы я не опоздал..."

I suppose this construction is used when you reproach yourself or someone else
It's more informal

[freiburg234.livejournal.com]

OK. So it has the connotation of a reproach, whereas the other version is just neutral. I'd never seen this before, so I was surprised when it turned up. Thank you.

[anc-q.livejournal.com]

well as native speaker I can say that we rare use that constraction

welcome, glad to help =)

[yms.livejournal.com]

I don't think it has the connotation of a reproach. Just another form of saying the same thing, more informal indeed.

[oryx_and_crake]

No, it does not have any such connotation. It's neutral.

[ex-mybrookl.livejournal.com]

"Не опоздай" - this construction is uses not very often by us, russians. You can use both constructions, but IMHO "Если бы я не опоздал..." is better.

[ryzhaya-rysya.livejournal.com]

"Не опоздай я..." - it is the correct construction, more informal than "Если бы я не опоздал". "Не опоздай" - is the imperative form, which doesn't have imperative meaning in such a sentence. For example: "Приди я вовремя на свидание, мы бы не поссорились" = "Had I arrived to the meeting in time, we would not have fought."

[constpd.livejournal.com]

Moreover, this construction can be used with any personal pronoun (не опоздай я, не опоздай он, не опоздай они) maybe except for вы meaning respectful singular (like German »Sie«). In case equal to German »ihr« it still will be ok.

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

Great find! Reminds me of the English past subjunctive "If I/he/it/we/you/they were ...". I wish I could look at my native language as a complete stranger. I'd then be able to see more things like this one.

[spiritrc.livejournal.com]

In case with "Вы" (as in German "Sie"), it would be "не опоздайте Вы..."

[freiburg234.livejournal.com]

Thanks to all for the great background information.