“would” is a modal verb.

Pronunciation: /wʊd/

In this lesson, you will learn the form of would. You will also learn the many different uses and meanings:

Past habits
Past refusals
Future relative to the past
Indirect speech
Polite offers and requests
Conditionals
Past unreal situations

Form

Affirmative form

Full form	Contracted form
I would like	I’d like
you would like	you’d like
he would like	he’d like
she would like	she’d like
it would like	it’d like
we would like	we’d like
you would like	you’d like
they would like	they’d like

Negative form

Full form	Contracted form
I would not like	I wouldn’t like
you would not like	you wouldn’t like
he would not like	he wouldn’t like
she would not like	she wouldn’t like
it would not like	it wouldn’t like
we would not like	we wouldn’t like
you would not like	you wouldn’t like
they would not like	they wouldn’t like

Question form

Full form
Would I like …. ?
Would you like …. ?
Would he like …. ?
Would she like …. ?
Would it like …. ?
Would we like …. ?
Would you like …. ?
Would they like …. ?

Uses and meaning of “would”

Past habits

We use “would” to describe a regular activity or habit in the past. This use of “would” is very similar to “used to“.

Examples:
When Jane was at university, she would study for 3 hours every evening.

When my grandma came to visit, we would play cards every day.

Past refusals

We use would to describe a refusal from the past. (A “refusal” is the act of not wanting to do something or the act of not agreeing to do something.) This use is usually in the negative form.

Examples:
Jane was angry. She wouldn’t speak to me!

Sarah: Why are you late?
Mark: My car wouldn’t start.

Future relative to the past

We use “would” to describe an action that is in the FUTURE relative to an earlier action from the past. The action in question is therefore in the past but it is in the future relative to an earlier action. “would” is therefore a past form of “will”

To explain this, let’s first look at a normal future. Normally, the future tense is relative to the present and we use “will”:

Mark: I think that I will pass the exam.

“I think” is in the present and “I will pass” is in the future relative to the present. We use “will” (future simple)

Now let’s pretend that several days have passed. Let’s look back in time at the same situation. We say:

Mark: Last week, I thought that I would pass the exam.

“I thought” is in the past and “I would pass” is in the future relative to that past. We use “would”.

More examples:

I know that I will see you again. (with will)
I knew that I would see you again. (with would)

He’s sure that I’ll like his house. (with will in the contracted form.)
He was sure that I’d like his house. (with would in the contracted form.)

Indirect speech (Reported speech)

When we use indirect speech, we use “would” after past reporting verbs where “will” was used in direct speech.

Direct speech is when we quote the exact words said by the person and we write those words inside quotation marks. The words are therefore from the perspective of the speaker. Indirect speech (reported speech) is when we report what the person said without necessarily using the exact words used by the person. It’s from our perspective.

When the reporting verb (“say”, “reply”, “shout” etc) is in the PAST form, we transform the word “will” from the direct speech into “would” in the indirect speech version. This is a similar application of the “future” relative to the past” use described above.

Examples:

Direct speech:
Mark said, “I will go to London.”
Indirect speech:
Mark said that he would go to London.

Direct speech:
Jane said, “I will help you.”
Indirect speech:
Jane said that she would help me.