Would: forms, wishes, requests and past meanings

One form, several meanings

Would is a modal verb: it comes before another verb and helps give the meaning. The next verb uses its base form, such as go, help or be. Would stays the same with I, you, he, she, it, we and they.

Do not add -s to would or use do, does or did to make its questions and negatives. Do not put to directly after would. In would like to leave, the to belongs to like to leave, not to would.

• She would help, not she woulds help.
• Would you help? not do you would help

Would cannot combine directly with another modal such as can or might. You can use a phrase such as be able to after it: I would be able to help on Friday.

Contractions and short answers

I would can become I'd; you would becomes you'd; she would becomes she'd. We would becomes we'd and they would becomes they'd. The negative contraction is wouldn't.

• I'd choose the smaller room.
• We wouldn't need a taxi.

'd can also mean had. In she'd taken the bus it means had, followed by a past participle. In she'd take the bus it means would, followed by a base verb. In she'd have taken the bus it means would: would have plus a past participle. Read the whole verb phrase.

Wishes and invitations

Would like

Use would like plus a thing to say politely what you want. Use would like to plus a base verb to say what you want to do.

• I'd like a different seat, please.
• We'd like to visit the gardens.

Would you like plus a thing can offer it. Would you like to plus a verb can invite someone to do something.

• Would you like another peach? an offer
• Would you like to join our walk? an invitation

For an invitation, you can reply Yes, I'd like to or Thanks, but I can't. For an offer of food, Yes, please and No, thank you are clear replies.

Like and would like are different

Do you like asks about what you enjoy. Would you like asks what you want or offers an activity. Both questions can be grammatical; the choice changes your meaning. See Verb + -ing: enjoy, stop, avoid and Verb + to-infinitive: want, decide, forget for verbs after like.

Love and prefer

Would love to gives a strong wish or an enthusiastic response. Would prefer plus a thing or to plus a verb gives your choice in a situation.

• We'd love to see the exhibition.
• I'd prefer an earlier train.
• She'd prefer to wait indoors.

Suggestions and imagined situations

It would be plus an adjective can suggest an idea or describe an imagined result.

• It would be useful to take a map.
• A wider table would fit six people. an imagined change to the room

Would does not itself put these ideas in past time. The wider table is an option you are thinking about now.

With an if-clause

In an imagined situation, use would plus a base verb in the result clause. The if-clause can use a past form even when the meaning concerns now or the future.

• If I had a spare room, I would invite you to stay.
• I wouldn't drive tonight if I were you. advice based on an imagined position

The first does not say that I have a spare room. It imagines the situation and its result. You can put the result first: I would invite you to stay if I had a spare room. See The second conditional: unreal situations now or in the future.

For this ordinary imagined-condition pattern, do not add would to both clauses. Other if-clause meanings, such as willingness, need separate treatment; this is not a ban on would anywhere after if.

Requests and permission

Would you plus a base verb can ask someone to do something. Cambridge describes it as less direct than Will you in a request.

• Would you hold this bag for a moment, please?

This is a request now, not a question about a past habit. You can accept with Of course or explain why you cannot help.

Would you mind

After would you mind, use a verb ending in -ing when you ask the other person to act.

• Would you mind checking the address?

For permission to do something yourself, you can use would you mind if I plus a past form. Here the past form makes a request about now or the future; it does not say that the action already happened.

• Would you mind if I moved this chair?

Mind means object to or feel bothered by here. No, not at all means you do not object, so it gives permission. To refuse, explain clearly: I'm afraid we need that chair here. A bare yes can be confusing. See Requests, offers, permission and invitations.

Opinions and advice

Would with say, think, imagine, advise or recommend can make an opinion or advice less direct. This use is supported by Cambridge; it is not simply a past-tense change.

• I'd say the blue one is easier to read.
• We'd recommend a smaller suitcase.
• I'd advise you to keep a copy.

Compare I say it is too expensive with I'd say it is too expensive. The second presents the judgement less directly. Would does not guarantee that any wording will sound polite; the rest of the message still matters.

Adverbs with would

An adverb can come after would and before the main verb.

• I would probably choose the morning session.
• She would definitely notice the change.

See Adverb position for other positions and patterns.

Would have: an imagined past result

Use would have plus a past participle to imagine a different past result. A past participle is the form used after have: finished, seen, taken. The negative is would not have or wouldn't have.

• I would have carried the box, but I hurt my back.
• If we had left sooner, we would have caught the ferry.
• Without your warning, I wouldn't have noticed the hole.

The second imagines an earlier departure and a different result. It does not say that we caught the ferry. See The third conditional: unreal past situations for that pattern.

Would have does not always mean an unreal past result. On Tuesday, she thought she would have finished by Friday reports an expected later completion. See The future in the past: was going to and would. The wider sentence tells you which meaning fits.

Future in the past and reporting

Would can look forward from a past moment. The later event can be past now, or it can still be ahead.

• At six, I thought the roads would be quieter after eight.

Six is the past viewpoint. After eight is later than that viewpoint. The thought does not prove that the roads became quieter.

Reporting will

Will can become would when you report earlier words. An original would normally stays would; it does not automatically become would have. Keep statement order after said that or wondered whether: We wondered whether they would come, not whether would they come.

Backshift, the change from will to would, is not compulsory when the original statement is still true, relevant or future. She promised she will help tomorrow can be valid if tomorrow is still ahead from your viewpoint. Do not label will wrong just because promised is past. See Reported statements: tense changes and say or tell, Reported questions and requests and The future in the past: was going to and would.

Refusal and things that did not work

Wouldn't can describe someone refusing to act in a past situation. It says more than did not: it presents unwillingness.

• I asked the guard twice, but he wouldn't let us through.

The sentence presents the guard as unwilling. With objects or machines, wouldn't can describe a failure to work despite an attempt, not a real choice made by the object.

• We tried both keys, but the drawer wouldn't open.
• The printer wouldn't connect, so I used another one.

Wouldn't does not always mean refusal. I wouldn't buy it at that price can be an imagined choice now; She said she wouldn't come can report a future intention. Read the time and context.

Repeated past events

Once the past setting is clear, would can describe actions that happened repeatedly.

• At our old flat, we would eat on the balcony every warm evening.
• During the school holidays, my aunt would collect us after lunch.

Used to and the past simple can also describe those repeated actions. Would is not the only correct choice. For one completed event rather than a habit, use a past form: My aunt collected us at two yesterday.

Do not turn the state guideline into a blanket ban

For one continuing past state, use used to or the past simple: We used to own a small shop or We owned a small shop. Would alone does not normally give that extended-state meaning.

However, repeated temporary situations can use would. BBC's Ask about English makes this qualification explicit. It is the meaning in context, not a list of forbidden verbs, that matters.

• Whenever the lights went out, I would feel uneasy.

This describes a feeling that returned on repeated occasions. Also, I thought we would own a shop one day is valid future in the past, not a past-state habit. Never mark would own wrong without checking what it means.

British Council notes that questions and negatives are not normally used for this past-habit pattern. They can suggest another meaning, especially refusal or an imagined situation. See Used to for past habits and states for the full comparison.

Preferences with rather: later extension

Would rather plus a base verb expresses a preference. Compare would prefer to plus a verb. Do not add to after rather.

• I'd rather wait here.
• I'd prefer to wait here.

Use rather not for a negative preference: I'd rather not discuss it now. If you mention another person's action, a past clause can describe a present or future preference: I'd rather you waited outside. For an earlier action, a past perfect clause is possible: I'd rather you hadn't told them. See Prefer, would prefer and would rather for the full patterns, would sooner and past preferences.

What comes next

Use Requests, offers, permission and invitations for requests and permission, The second conditional: unreal situations now or in the future and The third conditional: unreal past situations for imagined conditions, Used to for past habits and states for past habits and states, and The future in the past: was going to and would for a later event seen from the past. Continue with Prefer, would prefer and would rather for preference patterns and Will and shall: forms, predictions, decisions and offers for will and would contrasts.