would

What is it?

Would (the past form of will) is a verb that we use when there are options or possibilities (a modal verb).

present form	past form	ing form	en form
will can shall may must	would could should might

We put these verbs before the other verbs in the sentence.

These verbs only have a present form and a past form.

Past forms may refer to:

the past (this is not the present or future)
a hypothetical present or future: something we are imagining (this is not the real/likely present or future).

What does it mean?

Would means the speaker is thinking about something that isn’t happening in the present or future, and saying what they think (selecting an option or possibility)

How do we use it?

Would for the imaginary / hypothetical situations

We use would (the past form of will) to talk about options and possibilities we are imagining.

I would open the window, but I’m too tired.

future conditional tense timeline - would: modal verb - options - I would open the window

Options: (a) leave it shut (b) open it
I imagine opening it, but I won’t actually open it.

Examples

Subject	will	Verb	Object
I	would	buy	a hat	but I don’t have enough money. So I won’t.
She	would	turn off	her phone	but the button is broken. So she won’t.
He	would	go	skiing	but he has hurt his back. So he won’t.

Would for the past

We use wouldn’t when we talk about an option or possibility in the past that didn’t happen. We often wanted it to happen.

I tried many times but the car wouldn’t start. I conclude that it wasn’t possible.
I asked him nicely but he wouldn’t give me any pizza. He had options. He decided not to.

When we think about the past, we consider options we had at the time. We use would to say what often happened.

Time	Subject	would	Verb	Object/Place	Time
When we lived in China	we	would	use	chopsticks	every day.
When he didn’t read at school	he	would	often read	at home.
When she was a student	she	would	work		in the evening.