How does these sentences work in regard to tenses when translated into natural English?


[Source](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/43485/can-
particle-%e3%81%ab-be-always-interpreted-as-adverbial-modifier-
marker/43970#43970)

> 月曜の夜には、そこは閉まってる。

The source sentence says: “On monday nights it was closed.” But why not 閉まっていた
then? Since it happened in the past. I think 閉まった might also work to describe
that the place closed, but I guess that would sound better were it written
along with a concrete time, like 10 p.m.

Here’s yet another sentence that confuses me:

> 彼があんなことをするなんて信じられない。

So does this mean “I can’t believe he would do/is going to do such a thing or
that he did it already, and now I can’t believe it? I found this sentence as
an example sentence in a dictionary, so I can’t provide any context, but
wonder how it could be interpreted.

Please bear in mind I’m also not a native English speaker.




I suspect the difference in the first case may not be a difference in literal
meaning as much as a difference in how English vs Japanese speakers tend to
view and express certain situations, and may be a matter of context. The
Japanese sentence is saying that _as a general situation_ , it is always
closed on Monday nights. However, if the surrounding events that are being
described are things that happened in the past, it is common for an English
speaker to also phrase that sort of situation in a past tense as well, even if
it may also be true in the present and in general, for example:

> I wanted to go to my favorite restaurant, but on Monday nights it was
> closed, so I went to the place down the street instead.

This doesn't mean it isn't also closed on Monday nights now too (it probably
is, because it's a general condition), and indeed you probably could phrase it
in the present tense too, but it's just that (at least to many people) it
sounds better in English when expressed with matching tenses to all of the
surrounding text instead. (but this is often not as strong a factor in
Japanese)

For the second passage, I think it's important to understand that the する in
that sentence is essentially part of _a subclause modifying なんて_ , so it is
more a descriptive qualifier than referring to an actual occurrence.

In this sort of situation where a verb is modifying something that comes after
it, it is sometimes useful to view the non-past (する) form as somewhat similar
to the gerund (-ing) form in English, that is:

> 彼があんなことをするなんて信じられない -- "Something like (なんて) him doing that sort of thing
> (彼があんなことをする) is unbelievable (信じられない)"




> But why not 閉まっていた then?

There is no reason **not** to say "閉まっていた".

* * *

> So does this mean “I can’t believe he would do/is going to do such a thing
> or that he did it already, and now I can’t believe it?"

Most probably "would do" (past) instead of "is going to do" (future):

> 彼があんなことを **する** なんて信じられない。

"I (currently) can't believe he **would do** that (thing he did already)"

* * *

The following is essentially the same, and may be easier to process:

> 彼があんなことを **した** なんて信じられない。

"I (currently) can't believe he **did** that (thing he did already)"

* * *

Note that there is a subtle difference in the nuance between the above two
examples, which may start to get subjective and require a long answer.

* * *

As you mentioned, there is also a low probability to mean:

> "I (currently) can’t believe he is **going to do** such a thing

But in that case, it most probably would be explicitly stated in the sentence:

  * "彼が **今から** あんなことをするなんて信じられない。"
  * "彼が **これから** あんなことをするなんて信じられない。"
  * "彼が **将来** あんなことをするなんて信じられない。"

