Would Have Been Done

Level 5

Oleks tehtud means would have been done. Maja oleks valmis ehitatud means the house would have been finished, but no builder is named.

How It Works

This form combines two things you already know:

  • the past conditional: oleksin teinud (I would have done)
  • the impersonal: on tehtud (has been done)

Together they give oleks tehtud: would have been done, by someone unnamed.

  • Maja oleks ammu valmis ehitatud, kui raha oleks jätkunud. (The house would have been finished long ago if the money had lasted.)
  • Kui mulle oleks sellest räägitud, oleksin aidanud. (If I had been told about it, I would have helped.)
  • Ilma sinuta poleks seda kunagi tehtud. (Without you, this would never have been done.)

oleks stays the same, whatever is done. It does not take a personal ending, because nobody is named as the doer.

The thing that is done keeps the case it would have as an object. A whole thing or person is in the nominative: kiri oleks saadetud, mees oleks päästetud (the man would have been saved). The partitive is used for part of something, after a negative (poleks seda tehtud), and after a verb that always takes it, like aitama (teda oleks aidatud).

A condition can also start with oleks instead of kui: Oleks see varem öeldud, oleksime teisiti otsustanud. (Had that been said earlier, we would have decided differently.)

For the present, use the short impersonal conditional: seda tehtaks (it would be done).

Examples (5)

  1. Maja oleks ammu valmis ehitatud, kui raha oleks jätkunud.

    The house would have been finished long ago if the money had lasted.

  2. Kui mulle oleks sellest räägitud, oleksin aidanud.

    If I had been told about it, I would have helped.

    Word by Word: if to-me would-be about-it told, would-have-I helped

  3. Kiri oleks eile saadetud, aga postkontor oli kinni.

    The letter would have been sent yesterday, but the post office was closed.

  4. Ilma sinuta poleks seda kunagi tehtud.

    Without you, this would never have been done.

    The negative is poleks (or ei oleks) plus the -tud form.

  5. Oleks see varem öeldud, oleksime teisiti otsustanud.

    Had that been said earlier, we would have decided differently.

    Starting with oleks works like kui (if).

Common Mistakes

  • Using the -nud form instead of the -tud form.

    Kiri oleks eile saatnud.
    Kiri oleks eile saadetud.

    Intended meaning: the letter would have been sent yesterday. Nobody does the sending in this sentence, so you need the -tud form saadetud. Oleks saatnud needs a person who would have sent it: Ma oleksin kirja saatnud.

How It Connects

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Would Have Been DoneLevel 5

Learn This First

oleks plus -tud combines two known patterns.

Words in This Pattern

poleksolema