'will' and 'would'

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?

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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.

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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.

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Hello ShetuYogme,

Your explanations are good - well done.

In the sixth sentence remember that the proposal is still not agreed so I think there is an implied if-clause: ...aid would enter If the other side agreed to the proposal.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello again,

I have still a confusion. The implied if-clause could be "if the other side agree to the proposal.", couldn' it be?

We don't know wether the other side agree to the proposal or not. The other side may agree or may not. "If other side agreed to the proposal" -- is this not a hypothetical situation or we would say condition in unreal time. Doesn't this if-clause imply that the other side is never going to agree to the proposal, and we are just imagining unreal and impossible future?

I would be indebted to you, if you could just make me understand.

Shetu Yogme.

Hello Shetu Yogme,

We use this kind of conditional to talk about impossible or unlikely events. If I say, for example, 'If I won the lottery I would buy a new house' it does not mean I cannot win the lottery; it simply means that I do not see as a likely possibility. By using this form the speaker can signal that agreeing the deal is by no means certain.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Sir ,

If these events in if-clauses are impossible or unlikely, then if-clause suggests that winning the lottery is impossible. If winning the lottery is impossible, buying a new house is also impossible. If winning the lottery is impossible, then why doesn't it mean the person can't win the lottery?

Shetu Yogme.

Hello Shetu Yogme,

Winning the lottery is an unlikely event but not impossible.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello team,

I came across an example in direct and indirect speech that I’m having a hard time understanding.

If I say, “John promised he would phone us as soon as he arrives,” is that grammatically incorrect in this context?

Or would it be better to say “will phone” instead?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Best regards.

Hello flwrish,

The original sentence (direct speech) would be as follows:

I will phone you as soon as I arrive.

When reported, the verb form moves back:

John promised he would [will>would] phone...

The next part depends on whether or not John is still in transit. If so, then both arrives and arrived are possible. If John has arrived and the whole context is now in the past then arrived is needed.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello LearnEnglish team,

In the following article from the BBC, there is a sentence with would :

The cassette player would catch the reels, pulling magnetic tape through its mechanism. At first, just a slight hiss of static – and then the voice of her ancestors would flood the room.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250625-can-ai-speak-the-language-japan-tried-to-kill

What is the meaning of would in these sentences? Could you clarify?

Shetu Yogme.

Hello ShetuYogme,

Here, would shows a habitual or typical action. It has a similar meaning to used to.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Peter,

I got it. Would in that article was similar to used to. I didn't imagine it shows past habitual or typical action. I should have applied all the knowledge I have about this volatile modal verb.

Shetu Yogme.

Hello,

Jon Hassler, Yesterday's Garbage, MAG: The Saturday Evening Post

I would not hesitate to release her today; however, my colleagues suggest we wait one more month in order to be absolutely certain. Therefore, if she has suffered no setback by November 1, you may come for her. I assume by this time you have explained everything to Mr. Nichols.

Can "will have explained" be used in the last sentence? I'd like to use it for supposition.

Hello Tony_M,

Yes, you can certainly use you will have explained. In fact, I think using you have explained is a slightly odd choice here.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Yes, Tony M – you will have explained is the best choice here.

Shetu Yogme.

Thank you, Peter.

Can you explain why person B use "would" when answering question A? Why not say "A more complete sentence/context will be helpful?"

A: Does "could" have the meaning of "probably" or "can probably"?

It could mean either "I will do my best" or "let's do my best.

B: It is "possible", rather than "probable", in this example. It sounds quite tentative to me.
A more complete sentence/context would be helpful.

Hello Plokonyo,

I think we've already answered questions like this many time before. Would is often used in contexts like this to make a reply more polite.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Teama

If I say "A more complete context will be helpful", is it OK, sir?

Hello again Plokonyo,

Yes, it is possible.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

But why does speaker B use "would" rather than "will', sir? Is "will" impolite there?

A more complete context will be helpful.

As I said, 'would' is more polite. 'Will' is not rude but it is not as polite as 'would' here.

Hello teachers,

Hope you can help me with the below.

( A ) I think you know that Simone Inzaghi is the manager of Inter Milan, whose team will play Paris St Germaine in the European Champions League Cup final about 2 weeks later.

(1) (For likely and open situations)

Inzaghi is a very good manager. It will be an injustice if Inzaghi does not win the Europeon Champions League Cup at least once in his career.. (Correct. Do you agree?)

(2) (For unlikey possibilities)

Inzaghi is a very good manager. It would be an injustice if Inzaghi did not win the European Champions League Cup at least once in his career. (It is in accordance with "if" clause rules, but sounds odd. Do you agree? )

(3) Inzaghi is a very good manager. It would be an injustice if Inzaghi does not win the European Champions league Cup at least once in his career. (Sounds correct and idiomatic to me, but it seems to have broken the "if-clause" rule. So, I would like to ask: Is it really correct?)

No. 1 and no. 2 are in accordance with the "if-phrase" rules we learn in school.

No. (3) is against "if-clause" rules, but it sounds correct and idiomatic. Why?

( B ) In English grammar, are there exceptions where the "if-clause" rule can be broken?

Thanks

Hello Yornis,

( A ) I think you know that Simone Inzaghi is the manager of Inter Milan, whose team will play Paris St Germaine in the European Champions League Cup final about 2 weeks later.
(1) (For likely and open situations)
Inzaghi is a very good manager. It will be an injustice if Inzaghi does not win the Europeon Champions League Cup at least once in his career.. (Correct. Do you agree?)

Yes, I agree. And I also agree that Inzaghi is a very good manager.

(2) (For unlikey possibilities)
Inzaghi is a very good manager. It would be an injustice if Inzaghi did not win the European Champions League Cup at least once in his career. (It is in accordance with "if" clause rules, but sounds odd. Do you agree? )

I don't think it sounds odd. I think the speaker here is signalling that they do not believe that Inzaghi will fail to win the cup at least once - that such a scenario is unlikely.

(3) Inzaghi is a very good manager. It would be an injustice if Inzaghi does not win the European Champions league Cup at least once in his career. (Sounds correct and idiomatic to me, but it seems to have broken the "if-clause" rule. So, I would like to ask: Is it really correct?)
No. 1 and no. 2 are in accordance with the "if-phrase" rules we learn in school.
No. (3) is against "if-clause" rules, but it sounds correct and idiomatic. Why?
( B ) In English grammar, are there exceptions where the "if-clause" rule can be broken?

I would say that this is a non-standard form which does not follow standard grammatical rules. I'd also say that people use non-standard forms frequently and whether you describe is as an error or as something idiomatic and idiosyncratic depends on your own views on the language. Remember that language is fluid and grammar rules are constantly changing to reflect current use. Personally, I would not say this, but I would not consider it an egregious error if I heard it.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you

How does "would" work in "I would interpret...?"

A: What is meant by "Well, here's a do," in the following context from Angela Carter's "Nights at the Circus":

Well, here’s a do, Sybil.’ Colonel Kearney addressed his pig. ‘The madmen take over the lunatic asylum.’

Susi: I would interpret "do" here as meaning something like "predicament" or "situation."

Hello Plokonyo,

As we've said before, 'would' is often used to show a statement is more tentative in some way. You can think of it as implying an if-clause: If you asked me, I would...

The phrase 'a do' is a slightly old-fashioned term for a party or celebration. It's not used very much these days but I remember my mother using it when I was a child.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks Peter M for the explanation. My confusion is why not use "will" in the sentence? How does "will" actually work?

I will interpret "do" as meaning...

Hello again Plokonyo,

'Will' implies a choice in this context. You could imagine people playing a game in which everyone has to interpret a statement in some way and a player says 'I will interpret it like this...' - meaning 'I choose to interpret it like this...'

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello teachers,

I would be grateful if you could help me with the below:

In this office, there are 20 staff members. Among them are Tom, Harry and Wilfred. Wilfred is looking for his stapler and realises someone has borrowed his stapler without permission. The below is the dialogue that followed:

Wilfred: Someone has borrowed my stapler without asking me. I wonder who took it.

Tom: It could be Harry.

(a) He takes other people's things without permission.

(b) He will take other people's things without ppermission.

In the above context, are options (a), (b) and (c) all ccorrect?

Thank you.

Hello Yornis,

Yes, all of those are possible.

(a) describes Harry's typical behaviour

(b) describes what you expect from Harry based on what you know of him and his past behaviour

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks

Hello Peter and Yornis,

If the dialogue went the following way, what would be considered correct?:

Tom: It can't be Harry.
(a) He doesn't take other people's things without permission.
(b) He will not/would not take other people's things without permission.

Sentence (a), obviously, expresses typical behaviour, that's to say a general truth about Harry's behaviour. Alternatives in sentence (b) are confusing. If either of you could help me, please.

Hello ShetuYogme,

The sentence is the same as in Yornis's question but with negative verbs. The answer is the same:

All of those are possible.

(a) describes Harry's typical behaviour

(b) will not describes what you expect from Harry based on what you know of him and his past behaviour; would not is similar but suggests something more hypothetical: he's the kind of person who would do this

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Shetu Yogme,

I am glad that like me, you're also very interested in the modal auxiliary "would".

Hi Yornis,

Thank you very much for replying to my post. Yes, I'm very interested in the modal verb "would". This modal verb can sometimes be very confusing, making it seem inconsistent with the rules described in any grammar book. I'd request the LearnEnglish Team to publish all our comments, so that we can see, understand and reply when you feel the questions are going around in circle and you feel fed up with answering seemingly repeated questions.

Thank you once again.

Hello LearnEnglish Team,

I have the following sentence from BBC News:

Hamas has formally rejected Israel's latest ceasefire offer, saying it is prepared to immediately negotiate a deal that would see the release of all remaining hostages in return for an end to the war and the release of Palestinian prisoners. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8gzm0p1y8

I don't know why "would" has been used here. Could give a little insight into the usage of "would" here?

Hello ShetuYogme,

Would is used here because the deal is not (yet) agreed. The implied if-clause is 'if the deal were agreed'.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello teachers,

I would be grateful if you could help me with the below:

(1) Qualities such as diligence, a cheerful personality, patience and tactfulness WILL be needed to be an employee of KFC ( Kentucky Fried Chicken) chain of restaurants.

(2) (Let's say I own a small foodstall with only 5 workers)

Qualities such as diligence, a cheerful personality, patience and tactfulness WILL be needed to be a worker of my foodstall.

(3) What are things that WILL be needed for an expedition to the North Pole?

For no.1, 2 and 3 above, there are no plans, suggestions or rumours of KFC intending to recruit workers, or my foodstall looking for new workers, or anyone planning to go to the North Pole.

I know we can use "are" instead of "will" for all the above three in such a context. My question is: Can we use "will" for all the above three despite the fact that there are no plans or rumours to employ workers or anyone planning to go to the North Pole, and also despite the fact that no.3 is in question form?

Hello Yornis,

Yes, 'will' is fine in all these examples.

'Will' expresses many things including predictions and expectations, known truths about the world/situations and guesses or beliefs. It's generally not used for plans - going to or present continuous is more common for these.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you.

I think "would" also would be okay in these sentences, even more preferred.

Hello Peter and Yornis,

Don't you think that "would" is the better alternative instead of "will" in all the three sentences given by Yornis, as there are no plans, suggestions or rumours of KFC intending to recruit workers, or my food stall looking for new workers, or anyone planning to go to the North Pole?

Shetu Yogme.

Hello again.

I think it's entirely dependent on how the speaker sees the action and how they contextualise it.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello sir,

It is evident that the speaker sees the actions as hypothetical as there are no plans, suggestions or rumours for the actions; there are just expectations. Applying this logic, it would be much more plausible to use would instead of will? You will have to agree, won't you?

Shetu Yogme.

Both forms are grammatically possible. Which is used depends on the context and the speaker's perspective; I don't think we can make any assumptions about these.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear team,

I just want to say I'm grateful to read your detailed answers to many questions here on this page. It definitely helps a lot.

"if I'm talking to a non-native I would probably just use the word forgive". Would instead of will in this sentence sounds good to me.

My question: Why would they use WOULD here? is that grammatically correct? Is that mixed conditionals?

How about would in this example:

If I go to a native speaker and I say can you give me an example of like the past simple and most people would not be able to do that.

Hello sarah_us,

This is a non-standard form which mixes a real condition (If I"m talking) with a hypothetical result (I would... use). This combination is not one which we would consider standard/correct though, of course, non-standard forms do occur in everyday language use.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

What is the difference between will and would in the following?

Egypt wants to build a new city that will/would create new jobs.

Hello Arsya,

Will indicates that the speaker believes the city is likely to be created; would indicates that the speaker is skeptical as to whether or not the plan is realistic.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello team,

I would be grateful if you could help me with the below,which is from an article explaining the use of "on" for boats.

The phrase "on the boat" can be used when we think about larger boats. A boat that transports large amounts of cargo or people at one time WOULD need the phrase, "on the boat." For example, if you ................................................... Another example WOULD be, "My shipment still hasn't arrived and I think it's on the boat that's stuck in the middle of the Mediterranean."

What is the function of the two "would" in capital letters above?

My guess is the "would" in "WOULD need the phrase" is to express it as a hypothetical situation. Am I right?

As for the "would" in "Another example WOULD be" is to make instructions or opinions sound less forceful. Am I right?

By the way, in the article, for the phrase "on the boat" just before the words "For example", shouldn't the full stop be after the inverted commas of "on the boat"?

Thanks

Hello Yornis,

My guess is the "would" in "WOULD need the phrase" is to express it as a hypothetical situation. Am I right?

Yes, I agree. The author is imagining 'if there was a boat that... then it would need...'. It's a choice on the part of the author and the sentence could be phrased in different ways, including the present simple.

As for the "would" in "Another example WOULD be" is to make instructions or opinions sound less forceful. Am I right?

Again, other forms are possible here but I think 'would' here indicates politeness, as you say.

for the phrase "on the boat" just before the words "For example", shouldn't the full stop be after the inverted commas of "on the boat"?

This is a debated issue. Here's a good summary of the two schools of thought:

Finally, there remains the problem of whether to put other punctuation marks inside or outside the quotation marks. There are two schools of thought on this, which I shall call the logical view and the conventional view.
The logical view holds that the only punctuation marks which should be placed inside the quotation marks are those that form part of the quotation, while all others should be placed outside. The conventional view, in contrast, insists on placing most other punctuation marks inside a closing quote, regardless of whether they form part of the quotation. Here are two sentences punctuated according to the logical view:
"The only thing we have to fear", said Franklin Roosevelt, "is fear itself."
The Prime Minister condemned what he called "simple-minded solutions".
And here they are punctuated according to the conventional view:
"The only thing we have to fear," said Franklin Roosevelt, "is fear itself."
The Prime Minister condemned what he called "simple-minded solutions."
Note the placing of the comma after fear in the first example and of the final full stop in the second. These are not part of their quotations, and so the logical view places them outside the quote marks, while the conventional view places them inside, on the theory that a closing quote should always follow another punctuation mark.

https://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/quotes/marks

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team