Postby janMato » Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:04 pm
Well, this is tricky.
Timeline
tenpo pini la -- past. no argument. likewise, tenpo kama la, tenpo ni la.
Characteristic activity or other characteristic quality
tenpo pali la mi ken lape ala. I can't sleep at the office.
tenpo suno la mi ken lape kin. I really can't seep during sunlight.
When the characteristic activity takes a whole sentence to describe, it starts to mess with the "if a then b" logic.
If I become a tokiponist, I make mistakes.
Well, it isn't a question about if he became a tokiponist. It might be logically valid, but I'm no logician. If both are true and the former is just setting up the time, then it seems like it should have tenpo in there somewhere.
If I was born, it was raining. <-- huh? Am I uncertain about this?
mi sin la telo li anpa. <-- I'm not even sure which goes first
telo li anpa la mi sin. <-- Looks worse.
tenpo telo li anpa la mi sin. I was born while it was raining.
? tenpo la telo anpa la mi sin. Sometime, if the rain is falling, I (will be)/was born.