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> もしも君にめぐり逢えたら  
>  二度と君の手を離さない

I would translate this to:

> Even if I could meet you by chance,  
>  I would never leave your hand a second time.

That is because of the following analysis: moshi, if; mo, even; kimi, you; ni,
preposition required by meguriau; meguriaetara, -tara form of potential of
meguriau, meet by chance; nido to, a second time; kimi, you; no, possessive
particle; te, hand; wo, object marker; hanasanai, negative present of hanasu,
let go of. Trouble is, I've seen translations of this, which is from Time
After Time by Mai Kuraki, which translate it more or less as:

> Even if I had met you by chance,  
>  I would not have left your hand a second time.

But if hanasanai is present, why should I translate it with a past
conditional? Wouldn't it make more sense to translate it as a present one? It
_is_ true that -tara contains the past suffix -ta, but so what? Does it
necessarily imply a past action? And if so, why use the present in the
apodosis?
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2014-08-10T12:09:36.710
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2014-08-11T06:49:00.087
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question
translation conditionals
Properly translating a conditional
> But if hanasanai is present, why should I translate it with a past
> conditional?

You shouldn't.

> Wouldn't it make more sense to translate it as a present one?

Indeed. Or a future tense.

> It is true that -tara contains the past suffix -ta, but so what? Does it
> necessarily imply a past action?

No. The -ta is aspectual, i.e. it explains what will happen "after having met"
_you_. It works because 君の手を離さない happens after 君にめぐり逢えた.

The distinction of aspect and tense is subtle in Japanese, but as a very rough
rule, I usually say that -ta (etc.) expresses **past tense** in matrix verbs,
i.e. main clauses (usually the last verb in Japanese sentences), and
**perfective aspect** in other positions (subclauses, relative clauses etc).
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answer