I was asked recently by one of my students of English if I could tell him what is the most common meaning of the English word ‘would’, since it has more than one translation. Here I have detailed six uses for this sometimes-troublesome little word…
1 – It is used in English to form the conditional tense (the result of a non-real hypothesis). This is the equivalent of the conditional ending ‘-ais/-ait/-ions/-iez/-aient’ verb endings in French. For example:
- If we were rich, we would buy a Ferrari (Si nous étions riches, nous achèterions une Ferrari).
- If they had time, they would come more often (S’ils avaient le temps, ils viendraient plus souvent).
2- In indirect speech (equivalent of “will” to direct speech.)
As the preterit for ‘will’, ‘would’ is treated as the past tense when used in indirect speech. For example, to report the following statement, ‘He said ‘’I’ll drive the car’’ (‘Il a dit ‘’Je conduirais la voiture’’ ‘), you would say:
- He said he would drive the car (il a dit qu’il conduirait la voiture).
3 – To talk about a past habit or repeated action (note that this is quite literary and is often used to evoke a memory). It has a sense in French of ‘avoir l’habitude de…’. For example:
- They would speak to me every day (ils me parlaient tous les jours / ils avaient l’habitude de me parler tous les jours).
4 – To talk about a refusal in the past. Here, the French equivalent would be ‘ne pas vouloir’. For example:
- She wouldn’t tell me her secret (elle ne voulait pas me dire son secret).
5 – To ask a question politely or suggest something. We place ‘would’ as a modal verb before the main verb of action. Here, the equivalent French usage would be the conditional for ‘pouvoir’. For example:
- Would you pass me the salt, please? (Pourriez-vous me passer le sel, s’il vous plaît ?).
Note – in the above example we can also say ‘Could you pass me the salt, please’. Both are a little more polite than ‘Can you pass me…’ and much more polite than ‘Pass me…’.
6 – To talk about a wish for something to happen, but which does not depend on our will. Often in French this would be translated as the conditional form of ‘aimer’. For example:
- I wish he would stop snoring (J’aimerais qu’il arrête de ronfler)
Abbreviation (‘d)
Many of you probably know that ‘would’ is abbreviated as (‘d) after a subject. However ‘had’ when used in the pluperfect tense (e.g., I had eaten) is also abbreviated in this way (e.g., ‘I’d eaten’), so this can be confusing for learners who are translating from English, when trying to decide which meaning (‘d) has. Well, quite simply, it depends on the form of the main verb which follows. If it’s the infinitive of the main verb, for example, ‘I’d eat’, then you know that it’s the conditional ‘would eat’. However, if it’s the past participle, for example, ‘I’d eaten’, then you know that it’s the pluperfect.
I hope that my explanations are clear and that you now understand how and when the word ‘would’ is used. However, if you would like to discuss it with me some more, please feel free to contact me and I would be delighted to chat about it with you!
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