Wednesday 5 April 2017

Today's lesson : the difference between "will" and "would"

Will and would are both types of auxiliary verbs that are known as modal verbs.(there are other modal verbs, these include: could, shall, might, may, can, ought to and must.  Modal verbs don’t really have any meaning on their own, but act as helpers to give further meaning to other verbs.(so let's call them helping verbs)

Will is used to form Future Simple sentence , to describe something that takes/ will place in the future . it  is a definite statement, which means that you use it when you are certain that the future action is going to take place.

For example: ‘I will go and collect the materials  in the morning’.

When you use will, you or the subject executing the future action is
committed to it being carried out.

Example : ' I will eat the food '
⇒ I have not eaten the food . But I plan to eat the food at
some point in the future.

I will do the work.
⇒ I am not doing it now. But I plan to do
it at some point in the future.

                              WHILE
Would is a past-tense form of will . If you are writing or talking  about past events/ actions, you can use it to indicate what you're referring to  was in the future at that point in time , but is not necessarily in the future right now .

This is saying, you use 'would' to preserve the future aspect when talking about the past.

Example : She said that she would come
⇒ This is the same as: She said, "I will come"

I thought she would have visited me by now,
but she hasn't.

" Would" has many different uses, which include: invitations, requests, asking permission, talking about preferences and making arrangements.

For example: ‘Would you like to come to the party on Saturday?’( is an invitation;)

‘Would you be able to post this article for me?’ (is a request)

‘Would I be able to leave early today?’ (is asking
permission;)

  ‘I would prefer to eat ice cream’ ( talking
about preferences)

and ‘Would Friday at 8pm suit you?’ or ‘Saturday at 6pm would suit me.’ are ways to make  arrangements using would.

In conclusion, it is more polite to use "would" than" will". Consider these sentences : will you come to my house?
                                                          AND
                                  Would you mind coming to my house?

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