Uses of ‘Would’

Consult the following table.

Uses of ‘Would’ Example Structure

Polite for “want” I would like the fruit Subject + would like +
cakes. object

Polite offer Would you like some rice Would you like + object
or a salad with it?

Asking someone to do Would you (please) pass Would you + simple verb
something the jelly? form + direct object

Would you (please) pass Would you + simple verb

me the jelly? form + indirect object +
direct object

Asking someone to do Would you mind passing Would you mind + gerund
something the jelly? + object

Reported speech Anita said that she Subject + said + (that) +

would bring the drinks. noun clause

Present unreal I would move to Japan if Main clause= would +

conditionals I spoke Japanese. simple verb form
(imaginary situations)
If-clause= if + subject +
simple past verb

Repeated past actions When I was little, Main clause= would +

(Instead of Used to) I would play hopscotch simple verb form
with my friends.

Polite requests & offers

At restaurants and other places a common way to make a request is using “would like.”
This phrase means “to wish to have.” For example:

Hi, I would like the fruit cakes.

We also use “would like” in polite offers. When we do this, we use question form. Here is
how the server might respond:

Great. Would you like anything else with that?

Yes, I’d like the side salad. Thanks.

Prepared by Fareed Sahi. DeepMind Academy, Bhoth Sialkot. 1

Along with food orders at restaurants, you may also make a polite request for someone to
do something for you.

Would you (please) pass the jelly? (Sounds demanding rather than polite)

There are other polite ways to ask someone to do something. One of them includes
the phrase “Would you mind…?”

If we use this phrase, the jelly request becomes:

Would you mind passing the jelly?

Common “yes” responses to such a request include: “No, not at all” and “Sure.”

Would for unreal situations

The word would is used for unreal or imagined situations:

'I would love to visit New York.'

'She would like to be professional footballer.'

'We would go, but we are too busy.'

Would as a past tense in Reported Speech

Would and wouldn't are the past tense of will and won't. Let's look at an example of this
using direct and reported speech:

Andrew: 'I will be late.' (direct speech)

'Andrew said that he would be late.'(reported speech)

Would in conditional sentences

Would is used again for unreal or hypothetical situations in the 2nd and 3rd conditionals:

2nd Conditional: 'If I won the lottery, I would travel the world.'

3rd Conditional: 'If I had worked harder, I would have passed the test.'

Would not as 'to refuse'

Wouldn't (would not) is used to show that someone refused to do something:

'I asked him if I could borrow his car, but he wouldn't lend it to me.'

Would for past actions (as Used to)

Would can be used to talk about actions that repeated in the past. It is used in the same
context as used to:

'When I was young I would do my homework every evening.'

'In the summer we would always play cricket.'

Prepared by Fareed Sahi. DeepMind Academy, Bhoth Sialkot. 2