Understanding will and would

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The verb will and its past tense, would, are not easy to understand in English and do not translate easily into many other languages.
The problem is that will has 4 different meanings!
First, we can look at the verb in the present tense: will.
Then we can look at the past: would.

Talking about yourself and talking about the future

Two key meanings of will and would

Task 1: Look at these two sentences and translate them into your first language.
Mary: I'll be thirty-five years old tomorrow.
Peter: I'll make a cake for you.
Click here when you have done that.

I'll be thirty-five years old tomorrow.: In this sentence, Mary is talking about the future which nobody can change. It is a fact.
Peter: I'll make a cake for you.: In this sentence, Peter is not talking about the future really. He is saying that right now he is willing to make a cake. Making the cake will be in the future but that is not the point. The verb will is used to say you are now willing to do something. It can be an offer or a promise.
Some languages use a different word or different grammar to make a difference between the two meanings. Does yours?

Task 2: Here are some other examples of the two meanings of will.
Look at them and think:
Is Mary volunteering NOW to do something?
Is Mary talking about the future or about how she feels?
Click on the

to see the answer.

Peter: This is too heavy! Mary: I'll help!	Here, Mary is not talking about the future. She is talking about offering help now. She is volunteering.
Peter: I want to go to the beach tomorrow. Mary: The forecast says it will rain.	Here Mary is talking about the future. She is not talking about how she feels now. She is talking about the weather.
Peter: Will you marry me? Mary: No, I won't!	Here Peter is asking how Mary feels now. Mary is explaining how she feels now. She is not talking about the future because she does not want to marry Peter now (or any other time).
Peter: I'm getting tired. Mary: I'll do the driving from here.	Here Mary is talking about how she feels now. She is happy to do the driving so Peter can rest. She is not talking about the future. She is volunteering to do something.
Peter: I want to ask the boss for more money. Mary: What will you do if he says No?	Here Mary is talking about the future. She is not talking about how she feels and she is not talking about how Peter feels. She is asking Peter to tell her what he thinks is in the future.
Peter: What did the doctor say? Mary: He said that if I stop smoking I will get better.	Here Mary is talking about her doctor's opinion about the future. She is not talking about how she feels now or what she wants to do. If she says "I will stop smoking" then she is talking about her feelings.
Peter: Will you have time to do this for me? Mary: I'll make the time.	Here Peter is asking about the future but Mary is making a promise now. She is not talking about the future. She is promising now to make time for him.
Peter: Will you marry me? Mary: I will marry you if you will promise to stop seeing Alice.	This is more complicated because Mary uses the verb will twice. The first time, she is talking about the future (getting married). The second time she is asking Peter to make a promise now to stop seeing Alice.

Look again at the last example.
Usually, in a conditional, if-sentence, we can only use will once. So, for example:
I will go to London If I have time
is correct, but
I will go to London if I will have time
is wrong.
But this rule only works if you are using will to talk about the future.
When you use will to mean that somebody is happy to do something, then we can use it twice, like this:
I will go to London if you will come with me
Here, the first will refers to the future and the second will refers to whether someone is happy to do something.
That's an important difference.

The key difference:
Will can be used to talk about the future. Then we are speculating or guessing what the future holds:
Do you think the book will be interesting?
It will be cold in January
She will be new boss of the factory
Will can be used to offer, promise and refuse:
Will you help me with this?
You look tired. I'll do the washing up
I will not explain this again!

The past tense of will is would and it has the same two very important meanings.

Task 3: Look at these two sentences and translate them into your first language.
     Mary said she would be at home this afternoon.
     I knew the restaurant would be busy.
     Peter would help you.
Click here when you have done that.

Mary said she would be at home this afternoon.: In this sentence, some is reporting what Mary said. She actually said something like:
"I will be at home this afternoon."
and she was talking about the future, not about what she wanted to do or offered to do. She was simply noting a fact.
I knew the restaurant would be busy.: This is called the future in the past. In the present, it is:
I know the restaurant will be busy
but here the speaker is putting the knowing in the past so we need the past tense of will to make the grammar correct. We use would.
Peter would help you.: In this sentence, someone thinks that Peter is willing to help, not that he definitely will help.
The speaker uses would because it is not certain that Peter is willing to help.
If I am sure Peter is willing to help, then I can say:
Peter will help.
Again, we are not talking about the future. We are talking about how we think Peter feels and whether he is offering or promising to help.
Some languages use a different word or different grammar to make a difference between the two meanings. Does yours?

We saw with the verb will that it is used to talk about a future we are sure about. For example:
I will be 35 years old tomorrow
    It will be cold in England in January
etc.
When we are not sure, or we think the future is unlikely, we often use the past tense of will, and that is would. For example:
    The weather forecast said it would rain but it's fine at the moment.
    I think John would be at home by now

Task 4: Here are some other examples of the two meanings of would.
Look at them and think:
Are we referring to some kind of unlikely or impossible future?
Are we talking about what someone wants or is willing to do?
Click on the

to see the answer.

It would be a mistake to do that.	Here, we are talking about the future. We do not think the mistake will happen so we use would to make it clear that it is unlikely.
Would you help me with this?	This is almost the same meaning as Will you help me with this? We use would to make the request more polite. We are not talking about the future, we are talking about willingness.
Peter: Would you marry me if I were rich? Mary: No, I wouldn't!	Here Peter is asking how Mary feels now about something he thinks is unlikely (his being rich). Mary is explaining how she feels now. She is not talking about the future because she does not want to marry Peter now (even if he becomes rich).
Peter was getting tired so Mary said she would do the driving.	Here we are reporting the same conversation we saw above. When we report something like "I will do the driving" we use would like this.
Peter: I want to ask the boss for more money. Mary: What would you do if he said No?	Here Mary is talking about the future but she thinks the boss will probably say Yes. She is not talking about how she feels and she is not talking about how Peter feels. She is asking Peter to tell her what he thinks is in the future.
Peter: What did the doctor say? Mary: He said that if I stopped smoking I would get better.	Here Mary is talking about her doctor's opinion about the future but the doctor does not believe Mary will stop smoking. She is not talking about how she feels now or what she wants to do.
Peter: Would you have time to do this for me? Mary: I'd make the time.	Here Peter is asking about the future (politely, using would) but Mary is making a promise now. She is not talking about the future. She is promising now to make time for him if it is necessary.
Peter: Will you marry me? Mary: I would marry you if you would promise to stop seeing Alice.	This is more complicated because Mary uses the verb would twice. The first time, she is talking about the future (getting married). The second time she is asking Peter to make a promise now to stop seeing Alice.

Look again at the last example and you will see that the same conditional, if-sentence problem happens here, too.
Usually, in a conditional, if-sentence, we can only use would once. So, for example:
If I broke my laptop, I would be lost
is correct, but
If I would break my laptop, I would be lost
is wrong.
But this rule only works if you are using would to talk about an unlikely future.
When you use would to mean that somebody is happy to do something, then we can use it twice, like this:
I would travel first class if my boss would buy the tickets
Here, the first would refers to the unlikely future and the second would refers to whether the boss is willing to buy the tickets.

Here's the summary so far:

summary

Hopes and wishes: talking about what we want

This is another important meaning of the verb will. We use the verb to talk about what we hope will happen and what we want other people to do.

Task 5: Look at these sentences and decide if the words will or would are used to talk about hopes and dreams or about getting other people to do something.
    I hope it will rain
    Would you stop smoking in here, please?
    If only the weather would get better.
    Will you replace this if it doesn't fit?
    Would you like some more cake?
    Will you take a seat for 5 minutes?
Click here when you have done that.

I hope it will rain.: In this sentence, we are talking about something we cannot change (the weather). We are not talking about the future, we are talking about what we wish for now.
Would you stop smoking in here, please?: This is trying to change another person's behaviour. The use of would makes the request polite but we can also say, more directly:
Will you stop smoking, please?
but that is unusual between adults of equal power.
Both sentences look like questions but they aren't, they are orders.
If only the weather would get better.: This is like the first sentence. It expresses a hope or dream and is not trying to change anything.
Will you replace this if it doesn't fit?: This is asking about someone's willingness to make a promise now to do something in the future. It is not speculating about the future, it is referring to now.
Would you like some more cake?: This is an offer so is intended to change someone's behaviour. It is nothing to do with the future or the past.
Will you take a seat for 5 minutes?: This is a polite and rather formal request. To make it less direct, we can say:
Would you like to take a seat for 5 minutes?
These are not offers, they are orders and a way of saying, politely:
Sit here for five minutes!

Habits, frequent events and routines

Both will and would can be used to talk about people's habits and routines and also the behaviour we expect from them.

Task 6: Here are some examples of will and would used to talk about habits, frequent events and routines.
Look at them and think what they mean.
Click on the

to see the answer.

Passengers will be questioned by the police.	This is not talking about the future. It is talking about what the police always do. Notice that we are talking about passengers in general, not a passenger, the passenger or the passengers.
John will smoke in the bedroom.	This is also not about the future. It is about John's (unwelcome) habit of smoking in the bedroom. When we use will to talk about a habit we don't like, we never shorten it to 'll and we stress the verb.
Governments will make mistakes.	This is not about the future. It is about what all governments do all the time.
Well, he would say that, wouldn't he?	Here we are not talking about an unlikely future but saying that this is what we expect him to say because that is in his character.
When I was at school I would often get into trouble.	Here we are talking about something that happened frequently. It was not a habit, just something that happened to us.
When I was a child I would take the bus to school.	Here we are talking about a habit, not only something that happened frequently

That's the end

Now try two short tests.