would

Pluralwoulds

1. 1
   a hypotheticalverbauxiliary

   Used to talk about an imagined or possible situation, or the result that would follow from a condition, whether stated or only implied.

   If the train were cheaper, more people would take it.

   We would have arrived on time if the road had been open.

   UsagePut would in the result, usually not after if: if I had time, I would go (not incorrect: if I would have time).

   Note

   The past shape is what makes the conditional: Old English wolde was the past of willan, and English pushes a hypothetical back a tense, so 'if I won, I would give' sits one step away from reality. Drop the condition and it becomes a loose hypothetical, as in it would be nice. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Would derives from Old English wolde, the past tense of willan. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   future in pastverbauxiliary

   Used to mark something that lay ahead relative to a past moment, or to report a past 'will'.

   She left in the spring and would not return for years.

   They promised they would write.

   UsageAfter a past reporting verb, will often becomes would: he said he would call.

   Note

   A storyteller's way of looking ahead from the past: the narrator already knows what came next, as in 'the boy who would one day captain the team'. Trollope uses it for a trouble that 'had been, and would be' lasting. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Anthony Trollope uses 'had been, and would be' in narration about a lasting trouble in The Last Chronicle of Barset. gutenberg.org
3. 3
   soften a statementverbauxiliary

   Used to make a statement, opinion or piece of advice sound softer or more polite, as in 'I would suggest' or 'I would ask her first'.

   I would suggest waiting until Monday.

   I would say the meeting went rather well, all things considered.

   UsageOften with say, suggest, think: I would say, I'd suggest.

   Note

   A hedge that makes a statement claim less: 'I would say' is softer than 'I say', as though the speaker were only supposing. The short reply 'you'd think' turns the softening into mild irony: the expected thing ought to be true, but apparently is not.

4. 4
   polite questionverbauxiliary

   Used in questions to make a polite request, more softly than 'will you' or 'can you'.

   Would you open the door for me?

   Would you please sign here?

   UsageWould you mind takes an -ing form: would you mind closing the window (not incorrect: would you mind to close).

5. 5
   past habitverbauxiliary

   Used for an action repeated habitually in the past, but not for a continuing state.

   On Sundays she would bake bread for the whole street.

   He would sit by the window for hours.

   UsageFor repeated actions; for states use used to: I used to live there (not incorrect: I would live there).

   Note

   Routine told in installments: each 'would' is another Sunday, another afternoon by the radio. It usually follows a clause that sets the scene ('when we were younger', 'when we were kids'), and several can run in a row, as the American novelist Winston Churchill does for mornings on a veranda in The Celebrity (1897). Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Winston Churchill was an American novelist. en.wikipedia.org
6. 6
   true to formverbauxiliary

   What could be expected given the situation or a person's character ('well, he would, wouldn't he?', 'I wouldn't know'); often knowing or dismissive.

   Naturally the manager would deny it.

   You would forget the tickets, wouldn't you?

   Note

   Its favorite home is a short retort, "Well, he would, wouldn't he?", said of someone whose words simply serve their own interests. The question at the end invites the listener to agree that the motive is obvious. In the negative it turns into a disclaimer: I wouldn't know means that nobody could expect the speaker to have such knowledge. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The quoted retort is attested in this wording. en.wikipedia.org
7. 7
   verbauxiliary

   Expressing a confident assumption about what the speaker believes to be the case.

   That would be the postman at the door.

   Someone's knocking, so that would be the plumber we called this morning.

   UsageOften that would be someone; with have for the past: she would have noticed.

   Note

   Here would draws a conclusion rather than stating a condition: the speaker reasons from what is known to what is probably true. Where the guess rests on someone's character instead, it shades into the "naturally expected" meaning.

8. 8
   verbauxiliary

   Was willing to; used especially with not to say that someone refused or that something failed to work.

   I asked him twice to slow down, but he would not listen.

   The old car would not start on cold mornings, so she took the bus.

   Note

   In the negative this is everyday English: he wouldn't listen means he refused, and even things can refuse, as in the car wouldn't start. Older English also aimed the wanting straight at a thing or a person. "What wouldst thou with us?" asks "what do you want from us?", the question put in King Lear. That construction now belongs to period writing. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Historically, 'would' could express desire for something directly. en.wiktionary.org
   • The quoted question occurs in King Lear, spoken by Lear to Kent. shakespeare.mit.edu
   • The quotation uses 'would' in the sense of wanting or desiring. en.wiktionary.org

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