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    Grammar Cambridge

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    Agustinus Hartanto Harefa
    The document discusses the uses of the modal verb "would" in English. It explains that would is used: 1) In the affirmative form to refer to habitual actions or typical behaviors in the past. 2) In conditional sentences to talk about imagined or hypothetical situations. 3) To talk about willingness, intentions, or predictions in the past.

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    Grammar Cambridge

    Uploaded by

    Agustinus Hartanto Harefa
    31 views5 pages
    The document discusses the uses of the modal verb "would" in English. It explains that would is used: 1) In the affirmative form to refer to habitual actions or typical behaviors in the past. 2) In conditional sentences to talk about imagined or hypothetical situations. 3) To talk about willingness, intentions, or predictions in the past.

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    The document discusses the uses of the modal verb "would" in English. It explains that would is used: 1) In the affirmative form to refer to habitual actions or typical behaviors in the past. 2) In conditional sentences to talk about imagined or hypothetical situations. 3) To talk about willingness, intentions, or predictions in the past.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    31 views5 pages

    Grammar Cambridge

    Uploaded by

    Agustinus Hartanto Harefa
    The document discusses the uses of the modal verb "would" in English. It explains that would is used: 1) In the affirmative form to refer to habitual actions or typical behaviors in the past. 2) In conditional sentences to talk about imagined or hypothetical situations. 3) To talk about willingness, intentions, or predictions in the past.

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    Would 

    Would: form
    Affirmative form
    Would comes first in the verb phrase (after the subject and before another verb):
    Dad would sing  to us every evening.
    Would cannot be used with another modal verb:
    When Tracy opened the door, she thought she would find an empty room.
    Not: … she thought she would might find an empty room. or … she thought she might would
    find an empty room.

    Negative form
    The negative form of would is wouldn’t. We don’t use don’t, doesn’t, didn’t with would:
    There  wouldn’t be any food in the house.
    Not: There didn’t would be any food in the house.
    We use the full form would not in formal contexts or when we want to emphasise something:
    Your father  would not approve.
    See also:
     Modal verbs

    Question form
    The subject and would change position to form questions. We don’t use do, does, did:
    Would  that be a good idea?
    Not: Does this would that be a good idea?
    Wouldn’t  that be a good idea?
    We can use would and wouldn’t in question tags:
    She wouldn’t be any help, would she?
    They would enjoy that, wouldn’t they?

    Would: uses
    Requests
    We often use would to make requests. It is a more polite and indirect form of will.
    Compare

    Will  you make dinner? direct

    Would you make
    dinner? less direct

    See also:
     Would or will?

    Conditional sentences
    We often use would (or the contracted form ’d) in the main clause of a conditional sentence
    when we talk about imagined situations:
    If we had left earlier, we would  have been able to stop off for a coffee on the way.
    If we went to Chile, we’d have to go to Argentina as well. I’d love to see both.
    See also:
     Conditionals

    Habitual actions in the past


    We use would to refer to typical habitual actions and events in the past. This is usually a formal
    use and it often occurs in stories (narratives):
    I had a friend from Albany, which is about 36 miles away, and we  would meet every Thursday
    morning and she would help us.
    Then he would  wash; then he would eat his toast; then he would read his paper by the bright
    burning fire of electric coals.
    Warning:
    We can’t use would in this way to talk about states. In these cases, we say used to instead
    of would:
    I  used to live in Melbourne when I was a kid.
    Not: I would live in Melbourne when I was a kid.
    See also:
     Used to

    Talking about the future in the past


    We use would to talk about the future in the past. The speaker looks forward in time from a point
    in the past (underlined below):
    When I was young I thought that in years to come I would be really tall.
    When I broke my leg, I thought I would never dance again.

    Reported clauses
    We use would as the past form of will in reported clauses.

    statement with will reported

    ‘I’ll  pay for the food,’ said Tom. Tom said that he would pay for the food.

    Weather forecast:
    The weather forecast said that there would  be clear
    There will be clear skies in the skies in the morning but that it would be cloudy for
    morning but it will be cloudy for the the afternoon.
    afternoon.

    See also:
     Would or will?
     Reported speech

    Willingness in the past


    We use would to talk about willingness in past time situations. We usually use the negative
    form wouldn’t in this case:
    The CD wasn’t working so I brought it back to the shop but they wouldn’t give me my money
    back because they said the box had already been opened.

    Being less direct


    We often use would with verbs such as advise, imagine, recommend, say, suggest, think to make
    what we say less direct.
    advise I’d advise  you to keep working on your grammar.

    imagine I’d imagine it can’t be easy for you.

    recommen I’d recommend that you try this size. (formal)


    d

    say I’d say you are about 40.

    We’d suggest that you take this route. It’s more


    suggest scenic. (formal)

    think It’s much further than Dublin, I would think.

    Would or will?
    We can use would as a more formal or polite alternative to will in requests. We often use the
    phrase would you mind + -ing in polite requests.
    Compare
    Will  you give me a wake-up call at 7 Would you mind giving me a wake-up call at 7
    am, please? am, please?

    Will  you excuse me just one second? Would you excuse me just one second?

    Using would makes the request more formal and


    polite.

    Will and would can both refer to willingness. We use will for present and future time and would,
    usually in the negative, for past time:
    John will  carry your suitcase. It’s far too heavy for you. (present)
    The taxi driver wouldn’t take more than four in the car. (past)
    Warning:
    There are a number of phrases with would where will cannot be used:
    Would  you like your steak well cooked?
    Not: Will you like your steak well cooked?
    Would  you mind introducing me to him?
    Not: Will you mind introducing me to him?
    Would  you rather pay by credit card?
    Not: Will you rather pay by credit card?

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