Express that an event in the past could have occurred, if not for some condition

Question

How do I express that an event in the past could have occurred, if not for some other condition that prevented it from occurring?

For example:

We could have deployed the code on Tuesday, but our tests were failing.

I would have bought groceries, if my car had not broken down.

He almost passed the test; unfortunately he ran out of time.

She might have finished the race, however she was dehydrated.

In English we have a lot of different words that can be substituted in for the bolded words above.

What is the simplest way to express this pattern?

What are some other variations that can also express this pattern?

Answer 1

express that an event could have occurred in the past, if not for some other condition

For this many languages employ the subjunctive. Spanish, for example, has 8 forms of the subjunctive. Which form to use when??

Chinese is a lot easier. Just use a word that somehow indicates 'if' and you have a subjunctive form， like 我们本可以 = we could have

We could have deployed the code on Tuesday, but our tests were unsatisfactory.
我们本可以在周二启动这个软件，但我们的测试结果并不让人满意。
(this never seems to bother Microsoft)

I would have bought groceries, if my car had not broken down.
要不是我的车坏了，我就会买些杂货。

He would have passed the test, if he had not been so slow.
如果他不是这么慢的话，他会通过考试的。

She might have finished the race, had she not become dehydrated.
如果她没有脱水的话，她大概已经完成了比赛。

Answer 2

All the conjunctions in the examples you stated are applicable in Chinese

but = 但是/但

Example: [本來][X][但][Y] = [originally][X][but][Y]

~

if not for = 如果不是/如非 (literary)

Example: [如非][Y][那][X] = [If not for] [Y] [then] [X]

~

unfortunately = 可惜

Example: [應該是/應該會][X][可惜][Y] = [should be][X][unfortunately][Y]

~

however = 不過/只不過

Example: [原本][X][不過][Y] = [originally][X][however][Y]

X = event should had happened; Y = reason it didn't happened

Other example:

[明明][X][卻][Y] = [clearly][X][but][Y]

[本應][X][最後][Y]= [originally should][X][at the end][Y]

Y= what ended up happened instead

Depend on the context, some conjunctions are interchangeable

Examples:

[本來][X][但][Y] --> [本來][X][不過][Y]

[應該是][X][可惜][Y] --> [應該是][X][不過][Y]