Level: beginner
We use will:
- to express beliefs about the present or future
- to talk about what people want to do or are willing to do
- to make promises, offers and requests.
would is the past tense form of will. Because it is a past tense, it is used:
- to talk about the past
- to talk about hypotheses (when we imagine something)
- for politeness.
Beliefs
We use will to express beliefs about the present or future:
John will be in his office. (present)
We'll be late. (future)
We will have to take the train. (future)
We use would as the past of will, to describe past beliefs about the future:
I thought we would be late, so we would have to take the train.
Willingness
We use will:
- to talk about what people want to do or are willing to do:
We'll see you tomorrow.
Perhaps Dad will lend me the car.
- to talk about typical behaviour, things that we often do (because we are willing to do them):
We always spend our holidays at our favourite hotel at the seaside. We'll get up early every morning and have a quick breakfast then we'll go across the road to the beach.
We use would as the past tense of will:
- to talk about what people wanted to do or were willing to do in the past:
We had a terrible night. The baby wouldn't go to sleep.
Dad wouldn't lend me the car, so we had to take the train.
- to talk about typical behaviour, things that we often did (because we were willing to do them) in the past:
When they were children they used to spend their holidays at their grandmother's at the seaside. They'd get up early every morning and have a quick breakfast. Then they'd run across the road to the beach.
Promises, offers and requests
We use I will or We will to make promises and offers:
I'll give you a lift home after the party.
We'll come and see you next week.
We use Will you … ? or Would you … ? to make requests:
Will you carry this for me, please?
Would you please be quiet?
- will and would 1
- will and would 2
- will and would 3
Level: intermediate
Hypotheses and conditionals
We use will in conditionals to say what we think will happen in the present or future:
I'll give her a call if I can find her number.
You won't get in unless you have a ticket.
We use would to make hypotheses:
- when we imagine a situation:
It would be very expensive to stay in a hotel.
I would give you a lift, but my wife has the car today.
- in conditionals:
I would give her a call if I could find her number.
If I had the money, I'd buy a new car.
You would lose weight if you took more exercise.
If he got a new job, he would probably make more money.
What if he lost his job? What would happen then?
We also use conditionals to give advice :
Dan will help you if you ask him.
Past tenses are more polite:
Dan would help you if you asked him.
- will and would: hypotheses and conditionals
See also: Verbs in time clauses and conditionals
Level: beginner
Expressions with would
We use:
- would you…, would you mind (not) -ing for requests:
Would you carry this for me, please?
Would you mind carrying this?
Would you mind not telling him until tomorrow?
- would you like ..., would you like to ... for offers and invitations:
Would you like another drink?
Would you like to come round tomorrow?
- I would like …, I'd like … (you)(to) ... to say what we want or what we want to do:
I'd like that one, please.
I'd like to go home now.
- I'd rather… (= I would rather) to say what we prefer:
I'd rather have the new one, not the old one.
I don't want another drink. I'd rather go home.
- I would think, I would imagine, I'd guess to give an opinion when we are not sure or when we want to be polite:
It's very difficult, I would imagine.
I would think that's the right answer.
- Expressions with would 1
- Expressions with would 2
Hello Dwishiren,
Yes, that's correct. Well done.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Dwishiren,
You could use will to give advice like this. I chose would because I imagine we're describing a hypothetical situation. If you asked me about what you should say during a meeting tomorrow then I would use will because we would be talking about a real situation and not just speaking hypothetically.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Hayder991,
Real in this context means something that we consider possible, likely or plausible.
Unreal means the opposite.
Sometimes the choice is clear:
I'm not a dog and so this is clearly an unreal situation!
I know at some point I'll finish, so it's just a question of time.
Sometimes the choice is a question of perspective:
I'm an optimist. I think there's a chance of this.
I don't see this as a realistic possibility.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Hayder991,
In situations 1, 2, 3 and 5, 'would' is used to speak about a hypothetical or unreal situation. In other words, they are situations that the speaker is imagining. Situation 4 is similar and note how 'would' is used to make an indirect (and therefore polite) request here.
In the future, could you please tell us what you think about each of these, and then we can confirm them for you? Think of it as an opportunity for you to try to make sense of the sentences using the explanations on the page.
Thanks in advance for your understanding.
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Akihiko520,
You can use the simple present in your first two sentences, but there is a change in meaning. If you say It is wrong... and The slightest sound breaks... then you are talking about generally true situations; if you use would then you are speculating about a possible (but unlikely) concrete situation.
In the third sentence, will is grammatically possible but, again, the meaning changes. Would describes an imaginary, unlikely or hypothetical situation; will describes a real, likely or plausible situation.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi again Akihiko520,
Yes, one possible context is that the speaker thinks the person is unlikely to get the job for whatever reason.
For the second sentence, it's enough that the speaker thinks that there is little chance of any sound, but that it would break his concentration in the unlikely event of any sound occurring.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello cms10,
Would expresses a request. It means the speaker wants to be carried and wants the other person to do it.
Could expresses ability. It means the speaker wants to know if the other person is capable of carrying him or her. Of course, requests can be oblique rather than direct, so a question with could may also be a request, depending on the context.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello MarciaBT,
1. You could use will or must here. Will expresses a belief or prediction. Must expresses a conviction based on what you already know. Must has a sense of 'I can't believe this would not be true'.
2. Yes, both will and the present simple are possible here. Will is a prediction; it expresses what the speaker believes. The present simple is used to describe typical or normal actions or states.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Santiago0227,
1. I have no idea why the author switches between will and would in this way. It does not seem a well-constructed sentence, and may well have been the result of a lack of proofreading.
2. Grammatically, you could use either form, but there is a difference in meaning. If you say are sent then you describing a system which is already functioning. If you say will be sent then you are describing a possible future event. It sounds as if the system has not yet been used. Given that the earlier part of the paragraph makes it clear that the system is already up and running, are sent seems much more consistent here.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello anurat227,
You could say 'typically pay' (not 'pays') and that would be correct and mean the same thing.
I agree with you: 'is inappropriate' works better there.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello AsahiYo20,
If you replaced 'is not likely to' with 'won't', the sentence wouldn't make a lot of sense because 'won't' suggests you are sure, but the second half suggests that you aren't. It would be better to leave it as is.
It's possible to replace 'wouldn't' with 'won't', but it would only be appropriate in a different context. If you would like to explain the context, we can give you more specific advice on that.
For sentence 2, yes, you could, though as with my second comment above, only in a specific situation that's different from situation you would use 'would not' in.
If you have any other questions similar to these, could you please explain the situation or context more? It's difficult for us to give a quick answer without knowing more.
Thanks in advance.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi AsahiYo20,
I'll copy the sentences here for easy reference.
1a. It's not likely to happen but I wouldn't rule out the possibility.
1b. It's not likely to happen but I won't rule out the possibility.
You're right that 1b is more definite than 1a. For example, a politician might say 1b about whether or not they will run for election. 1b sounds like an official declaration of the speaker's intention. 1a, on the other hand, is a hypothetical statement (i.e. without any immediate practical implications). So, as Kirk mentioned, which one we would use is really dependent on the context.
2a. Taking action without knowing all the facts would not be a prudent course.
2b. Taking action without knowing all the facts is not a prudent course.
Yes! Both 2a and 2b may be giving advice to someone about what not to do. Using would makes the advice less direct but more polite. Yes, 2b may be more general. Again, though, it's hard to say without the context :)
I hope that helps.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello PabloTT,
The author uses would here because the situation they are describing is not a real situation but is hypothetical.
Will would be used if the situation were real. It would not just be describing something in general or theoretical terms, but would be describing an actual situation where there was a possibility of a choice being made.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again PabloTT,
Yes, that's right.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello cms10,
Yes, that's right: 'wouldn't' means he was unwilling in sentence 1. The alternatives you ask about in sentence 2 might work or might not -- it depends on the context. If, for example, the context is one in which you are speaking of a hypothetical situation, 'would' would probably be more appropriate.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello cms10,
It depends on how you are talking about the situation in which biliteracy is emphasised more (or not). If you are talking about such a change in a hypothetical way, then 'would' is fine. If you are speaking about it in a more concrete way, as something that happens some places and not so much in others, then the present simple is probably the best choice. If you are speaking about a specific situation in which this is being considered, then 'will compromise' is probably the best choice.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Kashvi.la27,
The present simple would be a comment on what is normal in general, not a comment on what should be done at a particular moment. For this, we use will, so you could say this:
However, will sounds very direct. Would is often used as a more polite form as it sounds more tentative than will.
Your second example uses would because the speaker is talking about a hypothetical situation:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rafaela1,
Thanks!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Dwishiren,
I see what you mean, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience.
I'm afraid this is something that our technical team will have to look into and it could take some time. But once I have any news, I'll respond here.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sandeep Gupta,
Thanks for your contribution, but I'm afraid we don't provide the service of correcting our users' writing.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Sandeep Gupta,
The sentence has some errors in it. You cannot say 'speaker experience'. 'Speakers experience', 'speaker experiences', 'speakers experienced', 'speaker experienced' are all possible.
'Open up themselves' is also incorrect. The pronoun should be before the particle: 'open themselves up'.
I don't know the source of the sentence and whether the errors are in the original or are the result of errors in transcription, but I can't really comment on the grammar of a sentence which is ungrammatical!
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sandeep Gupta,
Would is used to show that the situation is hypothetical. The person is not talking about a person who is actually using gestures or who is planning to do so, but rather speaking in hypothetical terms, imagining such a situation.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sandeep Gupta,
Would does express an opinion, in the context of a hypothetical situation, and the sentence is correct.
You can think of it as having an implied if-clause:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello patph0510,
In British English, 'should' is sometimes used in conditional clauses to express possibility. It is never necessary though, and means the same thing as 'If I run into Daniel'.
Yes, you could just say 'could' there and it would mean the same thing.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team