a sweet and soft food made by boiling sugar and fruit juice until it is thick appropriate for use in informal occasions a verb that is usually used with another verb to express ideas such as possibility, necessity and permissionĬasual – adj. a patty of flaked or minced crab meat, typically served fried Menu – a list of the foods that may be ordered at a restaurantĬrab cakes – n. If-clause= if + subject + simple past verb Would you + simple verb form + indirect object + direct objectĪnita said that she would bring the drinks. Would you + simple verb form + direct object Would you like some rice or a salad with it? Join us again soon to learn about more ways we use “would.” Well, we’ve given you a lot of information.
We could not, for example, say, “When I was little, I would be happy playing hopscotch.” We do not use it with stative verbs, such as: live, be, know, think, understand or want. Second, we only use “would” this way with action verbs, such as “play” in the hopscotch example. The first is that we must state the time period in the first part of the sentence - “When I was little” for example. When I was little, I would play hopscotch with my friends. This usage is called “past habitual.” Here’s an example: We also use “would” in everyday speech to talk about repeated actions in the past. You can read more about these conditionals in an earlier episode of Everyday Grammar. Past unreal conditionals also contain “would.” But they are more complex and require a strong understanding of present and past perfect verb tenses. The understood meaning is “If I were you, I would arrive two hours before departure.” The DC airport is usually crowded on Fridays. Nice! I would arrive two hours before departure. One situation when we do this is when giving advice: Sometimes, in casual, spoken English, we leave out the if-clause in unreal conditional statements, but its meaning is understood. You could also say, “If I spoke Japanese, I would move to Japan.” But, the order of the clauses does not change the statement’s meaning. In this statement, the main clause comes before the if-clause. I would move to Japan if I spoke Japanese. The word “would” goes in the main clause. You may remember from an earlier program that unreal conditional statements have two parts: the if-clause and the main clause. These conditionals describe what we would do in imaginary - or unreal - situations.
The weather report said (that) it would be sunny this morning but rainy this afternoon.Īnother everyday usage of “would” is in unreal conditionals. Here is how you might tell someone else about what you heard: It will be sunny in the morning, but we can expect rain in the afternoon. Imagine that you are listening to a weather report on the radio. When we change this to reported speech, we change “will” to “would”:Īnita said (that) she would bring the drinks.Īnother example of changing tenses in reported speech is when talking about the weather. In reported speech clauses, “would” is the past tense of “will.”įirst, listen to “will” in direct speech: We use reported speech to tell others what someone else said – without using their exact words. If we use this phrase, the jelly request becomes:Ĭommon “yes” responses to such a request include: “No, not at all” and “Sure.”Īnother everyday use of “would” is in reported speech. One of them includes the phrase “Would you mind…?” In an earlier program, we told you about indirect questions. There are other polite ways to ask someone to do something. To many native English speakers, using “will” in such a request sounds demanding rather than polite or neutral. Listen to this line from a famous television ad for a fruit-based spread: Would you like anything else with that?Īlong with food orders at restaurants, you may also make a polite request for someone to do something for you. We also use “would like” in polite offers. Listen to the polite version of the food order: At restaurants and other places where we pay for services, a common way to make a request is using “would like.” This phrase means “to wish to have.” Today, we will tell you some of the uses of “would.” A modal is a helping verb that is usually used with another verb to express ideas such as possibility, necessity and permission. This is just one of many uses for the modal “would” in everyday speech. You say:Īlthough you expressed your request clearly, it is best to avoid using “want” when making polite requests. So, when the server comes to your table, your friend tells you to order first. Your friend is taking a little longer to decide.
You look at the menu and decide what you want: crab cakes. Your friend takes you to a popular restaurant. Imagine that you are visiting a friend in Washington, D.C.