Would and
Used to
Would and used to shows : Habitual action in the past
"Would" is most commonly used to create conditional verb forms. It also serves as the past form of the modal verb "will." Additionally, "would" can indicate repetition in the past. For more information on the grammar behind the modal verb "would," visit the following tutorials: Conditional Tutorial, Future in the Past, and Would Always.
Examples:
· If he were an
actor, he would
be in adventure movies. conditional
I knew that she would
be very successful in her career. past of "will"
· When they first
met, they would
always have picnics on the beach.
Habitual action in the past – used
to/would/
When we
talk about things that happened in the past but don’t happen anymore we can do
it in different ways.
Used to
Used to
·
We used to live in New York
when I was a kid.
·
There didn’t use to be a
petrol station there. When was it built?
We can use ‘used to’
to talk about past states ….
·
I used to go swimming every
Thursday when I was at school.
·
I used to smoke but I gave
up a few years ago.
·
I used to live in France.
·
He used to have a beard.
·
This building used to be a hotel
or we can use ‘used to’ to talk about repeated past actions
Remember that ‘used to’ is only for past states/actions that don’t happen now – we can’t use it for things that still happen now. Also, ‘used to + infinitive’ should not be confused with ‘be/get used to + ‘ing’ form’ – this is covered in a separate section.
Remember that ‘used to’ is only for past states/actions that don’t happen now – we can’t use it for things that still happen now. Also, ‘used to + infinitive’ should not be confused with ‘be/get used to + ‘ing’ form’ – this is covered in a separate section.
·
Every Saturday I would go
on a long bike ride.
·
My teachers would always
say “Sit down and shut up!”
We can use ‘would’
to talk about repeated past actions.
Often either ‘would’ or ‘used to’ is possible. Both of these sentences are possible.
Often either ‘would’ or ‘used to’ is possible. Both of these sentences are possible.
·
Every Saturday, I would go
on a long bike ride.
·
Every Saturday I used to go
on a long bike ride.
However, only ‘used to’
is possible when we talk about past states.
·
We used to live in New York
when I was a kid.
Past simple
·
We went/used to go/would go
to the same beach every summer.
We can use the past simple
in the same way as ‘used to’ and ‘would’ to talk about repeated
past actions.
·
I had/used to have a dog
called Charlie.
We can also use the past
simple for past states.
·
I went to Egypt in 1988.
However, if something
happened only once we can’t use ‘used to’ or ‘would’ – we must
use the past simple.
"I used to
live in Manchester, but I moved to London last year."
"When he was at school, he used to play football every Saturday."
"She used to hate her job until she got a promotion."
All of these sentences describe actions or situations in the past, which are finished now; living in Manchester, playing football every Saturday, hating her job - these are all finished now.
We use 'used to' to talk about actions or situations that continued for some time in the past, not for events which happened suddenly or just for a moment. So we can't say: 'I used to have a really good idea when I was brushing my teeth this morning,' because 'having a really good idea' happens suddenly - in one moment.
Now let's move on to 'would'. Here are some examples:
"When he was at university, he would sleep until noon at the weekends."
"My sister lived in Australia for many years, but she would always come home for Christmas."
"I would always forget my homework, until the teacher threatened to punish me."
Again, these sentences are about situations in the past, which are finished. However, it's important to notice that all the sentences, here, are about actions or situations which were repeated again and again and again. Sleeping until noon at the weekends, coming home for Christmas, forgetting my homework - all these things were repeated many times, again and again and again.
This is the difference between 'would' and 'used to' -
We only use 'would' to describe actions or situations that were repeated again and again and again...
But we use 'used to' for any extended action or situation in the past.
'Would' is only good for actions or situations that were repeated many times;
'Used to' is good for any action or situation that continued for a period of time in the past, including repeated actions or situations.
To make this clearer, let's look at the three examples of 'used to' sentences, and see if we can change them into 'would' sentences.
Here's the first example again:
"I used to live in Manchester, but I moved to London last year."
Can we use 'would' instead of 'used to' here?
No, we can't, because 'living in Manchester' wasn't repeated again and again and again. It's simply a situation in the past. Therefore, only 'used to' is good in this sentence.
The second example again:
" When he was at school, he used to play football every Saturday."
Here, we're talking about 'playing football every Saturday'. This is an action that was repeated many times, so we can also say:
"When he was at school, he would play football every Saturday".
'Used to' and 'would' are both good here, and the meaning is the same.
Finally, the third example again:
"She used to hate her job until she got a promotion."
Did she 'hate her job' many times?
No, this isn't a repeated action, so in this example 'would' isn't possible. We have to use 'used to'.
Alex Gooch has been an English teacher for ten years. He has taught in Poland and Switzerland, and more recently he's been teaching in various universities in the UK.
"When he was at school, he used to play football every Saturday."
"She used to hate her job until she got a promotion."
All of these sentences describe actions or situations in the past, which are finished now; living in Manchester, playing football every Saturday, hating her job - these are all finished now.
We use 'used to' to talk about actions or situations that continued for some time in the past, not for events which happened suddenly or just for a moment. So we can't say: 'I used to have a really good idea when I was brushing my teeth this morning,' because 'having a really good idea' happens suddenly - in one moment.
Now let's move on to 'would'. Here are some examples:
"When he was at university, he would sleep until noon at the weekends."
"My sister lived in Australia for many years, but she would always come home for Christmas."
"I would always forget my homework, until the teacher threatened to punish me."
Again, these sentences are about situations in the past, which are finished. However, it's important to notice that all the sentences, here, are about actions or situations which were repeated again and again and again. Sleeping until noon at the weekends, coming home for Christmas, forgetting my homework - all these things were repeated many times, again and again and again.
This is the difference between 'would' and 'used to' -
We only use 'would' to describe actions or situations that were repeated again and again and again...
But we use 'used to' for any extended action or situation in the past.
'Would' is only good for actions or situations that were repeated many times;
'Used to' is good for any action or situation that continued for a period of time in the past, including repeated actions or situations.
To make this clearer, let's look at the three examples of 'used to' sentences, and see if we can change them into 'would' sentences.
Here's the first example again:
"I used to live in Manchester, but I moved to London last year."
Can we use 'would' instead of 'used to' here?
No, we can't, because 'living in Manchester' wasn't repeated again and again and again. It's simply a situation in the past. Therefore, only 'used to' is good in this sentence.
The second example again:
" When he was at school, he used to play football every Saturday."
Here, we're talking about 'playing football every Saturday'. This is an action that was repeated many times, so we can also say:
"When he was at school, he would play football every Saturday".
'Used to' and 'would' are both good here, and the meaning is the same.
Finally, the third example again:
"She used to hate her job until she got a promotion."
Did she 'hate her job' many times?
No, this isn't a repeated action, so in this example 'would' isn't possible. We have to use 'used to'.
Alex Gooch has been an English teacher for ten years. He has taught in Poland and Switzerland, and more recently he's been teaching in various universities in the UK.
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.'
'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
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)
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.'
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'
'I asked him if I could borrow his
car, but he wouldn't lend it to me.'
Would for past actions
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 go camping.'
'When I was young I would do my homework every evening.'
'In the summer we would always go camping.'
Please help me.
What are the correct
sounds of Short and long vowels a, e , i, o, u?
How to use would.....
Dear Students
A very useful lesson but
no practice. Ps. try to post an exercise.
Regards
Regards
Another use of would
Excuse me, maybe I am
wrong, but...
"Do you want some
coffee?" - "Yes, I would like to have some coffee".
Here is not unreal situation. "Would" is often used for polite conversation.
Here is not unreal situation. "Would" is often used for polite conversation.
"Would you give me
some more? Would you pass my message to your boss?"
Here we can say "Will you give me some more?" but "would" sounds more polite.
Here we can say "Will you give me some more?" but "would" sounds more polite.
We would grate English
speaking students, but we haven't enough practice.
I made some examples for
I made some examples for
this topic . Is it looks right?
1. I would like to speak English fluently.
2. Mark said that he would bring money tomorrow.
3. If I given some money for my son he would buy a condominium.
Had we played more , we would have had a better house.
4. They wanted to get a loan, but a bank wouldn't to give to them.
5. My husband would practice play accordion about 6 hours every day.
1. I would like to speak English fluently.
2. Mark said that he would bring money tomorrow.
3. If I given some money for my son he would buy a condominium.
Had we played more , we would have had a better house.
4. They wanted to get a loan, but a bank wouldn't to give to them.
5. My husband would practice play accordion about 6 hours every day.
Examples with would
1. When I was young I
would get up early every morning.
2. He said that she would go with him to travel American.
3. I asked her if she could help me to solve all the outstanding works, but she would not say anything.
2. He said that she would go with him to travel American.
3. I asked her if she could help me to solve all the outstanding works, but she would not say anything.
Would is used with all
subjects. it is used for past habitual action just like used to . The only
difference between used to and would is that, would cannot be used with past happenings.
it can only be used for repeated action in past. There is no present and future
form of would in past habitual action.
guide for 8 to 12 std
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