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Concourse 2

Understanding will and would

aha

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.


2

Talking about yourself and talking about the future

Two key meanings of will and would


think write 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.
think 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 eye open to see the answer.

Peter: This is too heavy!
Mary: I'll help!
eye open
Peter: I want to go to the beach tomorrow.
Mary: The forecast says it will rain.
eye open
Peter: Will you marry me?
Mary: No, I won't!
eye open
Peter: I'm getting tired.
Mary: I'll do the driving from here.
eye open
Peter: I want to ask the boss for more money.
Mary: What will you do if he says No?
eye open
Peter: What did the doctor say?
Mary: He said that if I stop smoking I will get better.
eye open
Peter: Will you have time to do this for me?
Mary: I'll make the time.
eye open
Peter: Will you marry me?
Mary: I will marry you if you will promise to stop seeing Alice.
eye open

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.

think write 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.

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

think 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 eye open to see the answer.

It would be a mistake to do that.
eye open
Would you help me with this?
eye open
Peter: Would you marry me if I were rich?
Mary: No, I wouldn't!
eye open
Peter was getting tired so Mary said she would do the driving.
eye open
Peter: I want to ask the boss for more money.
Mary: What would you do if he said No?
eye open
Peter: What did the doctor say?
Mary: He said that if I stopped smoking I would get better.
eye open
Peter: Would you have time to do this for me?
Mary: I'd make the time.
eye open
Peter: Will you marry me?
Mary: I would marry you if you would promise to stop seeing Alice.
eye open

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 

 


pray

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.

think 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.

smoking

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.

think 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 eye open to see the answer.

Passengers will be questioned by the police.
eye open
John will smoke in the bedroom.
eye open
Governments will make mistakes.
eye open
Well, he would say that, wouldn't he?
eye open
When I was at school I would often get into trouble.
eye open
When I was a child I would take the bus to school.
eye open


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