How to Use Would in English English Modal Verbs
hi I’m Ike welcome to Oxford online
English in this lesson you can learn
about the modal verb would in English
you’d like to learn more about wood and
what it means if I asked you to tell me
all the meanings and uses of wood right
now would you be able to like all Myrdal
verbs would can have many different
meanings these different meanings aren’t
connected to each other
which can make it difficult to work out
what wood means in different sentences
all situations in this class you’ll see
all the use of wood and the meanings
let’s start with the most important use
of wood
imagine your friend asks you what would
you do if you’re attacked by a shark why
does your friend use wood in this
question and how should you answer
probably your answer would also include
wood maybe something like I probably try
to hit it on the nose or poke it in the
eye or something like that
maybe I just tried to swim away so any
ideas why do you use wood here it’s
because getting attacked by a shark is
very unlikely we use wood when we talk
about things which are either very
unlikely or totally impossible for
example what would you do if you could
read people’s thoughts reading people’s
thoughts is impossible so we use wood
it’s a question about an imaginary
situation I would help you if I could I
can’t help you so I use wood to show
that that’s impossible this is like
saying I can’t help you she would be
here but she has too much work at the
moment she’s not here although she would
be if she didn’t have so much work in
all of these cases when you use wood
you’re talking about situation which
isn’t true and which you think will
never happen that’s what it means when
you use was like this you’re saying I
think this thing never happened if I won
the lottery I would you say wood because
you don’t think you’ll ever win the
lottery you can use wood have plus a
past participle to talk about the past
in the same way for example what would
you have said if she’d seen you she
didn’t see you so you didn’t say
anything to her I’m asking you a
question about an imaginary situation
I’m saying imagine a different version
of the past where she did see you
I wouldn’t have come if I’d known it was
going to go on so late I didn’t know it
was going to go on so late so I did come
but now I regret it
imagine you’re at an event and you have
to get up early tomorrow the event goes
on much later than you expected so you
say this he wouldn’t have been much help
anyway he wasn’t there so he couldn’t
help but even if he had been there he
wouldn’t have been able to help us this
is the most common way to use wood and
probably the most complicated however
wood has many other uses let’s look
if you want to ask someone
do something for you using wood in your
request can make it sound more polite
for example can you tell me the time
will you get me a sandwich I want
something to eat all of these requests
are quite informal that can be fine
depending on the situation but sometimes
you want to be a bit more formal so that
you sound polite wood can be useful here
look at the sentences can you see how to
use wood okay let’s check your ideas
would you mind telling me at a time
would you get me a sandwich I’d like
something to eat
using would you mind plus ing is a very
polite way to make a request you can
also use wood in place of will in a
request this makes it a little more
formal and polite finally using wood
like instead of want is better unless
you’re in a very informal situation to
be clear these are the only ways to use
wood there are other possible answers
for example you could say tell me the
time would you would you mind getting me
a sandwich these are possible the first
answers I gave you are the most obvious
also let’s get something clear there’s
no connection between these different
uses of wood we use wood to make a
polite request like you’re doing here
there’s no connection with the idea of
imaginary or in real situations that you
saw in part 1 ok let’s move on and look
at another way to use wood
imagine you have a friend who’s always
late for everything you’re meeting your
friend tomorrow and you’re really
annoyed that you always have to wait you
tell your friend to be on time and she
replies I’ll be on time I promise I’ll
get an earlier bus which will get to the
center by three o’clock
now imagine that is a few days later and
you want to tell me what your friend
said to you how would you do it you were
to say something like my friend promised
you’d be on time she said she’d get an
earlier bus which she said would arrive
by three o’clock of course when she
turned up it was nearly full do you see
what’s happening here every time your
friend says will you say would when
you’re talking about what your friend
said English learners often say
something like would is the past tense
of will that’s true sometimes but not
generally for example for the uses of
wood you saw in parts 1 & 2 it’s not
helpful or accurate to say that wood is
the past tense of will however a
reported speech is a good way to think
about it there’s one more case where
wood has a past meaning connected to
will do you know what I’m talking about
both will and wood can have the meaning
of refusing to do something for example
I’ll ask him but he won’t help me he’ll
refuse to help me in the future I asked
him but he wouldn’t help me he refused
to help me in the past in this case you
can see wood as the past version he will
you can use this to talk about people
they wouldn’t give me my money back
even though I had the receipt they
refused to give me my money back you can
also use it to talk about things my car
wouldn’t start this morning my car
refused to start ok cars can’t literally
refuse to start but we often talk about
machines computers and things like that
in this way here’s a similar example
when he try to show me the fire wouldn’t
open so here in part 3 reported speech
the meanings of will and wood are
connected when you’re thinking about
will and wood it’s important to remember
that sometimes the meanings are
connected and sometimes they’re
completely different we’ll come back to
this point at the end of the lesson
there’s one more way to use wood that we
need to look at
you can use wood to talk about things
in the past but don’t do now for example
my mum would walk us to school when we
were little when I was training for the
marathon I would go running for two
hours every day after work it was
exhausting what is similar to used to
here but it’s not exactly the same when
you use wood like this you can only talk
about repeated actions in the past
you can’t talk about States and
situations like you can with use too so
you can’t say I would live in a small
flat with my friends when I was a
student that’s not correct because live
is a state not an action however this
sentence is okay I would go out with my
friends most evenings when I was a
student this is fine because go out is
an action so now you’ve seen all the
different ways you can use wood in
English let’s review what you’ve learned
today
what has five common use of in English
it can be used to talk about imaginary
or real situations to make polite
requests in reported speech as the past
version of will to mean refused to and
to talk about repeated actions in the
past when you are learning about wood
one of the most important things to get
clear in your head is the relationship
between will and would sometimes will
and wood are connected if you’re using
reported speech or using wood to mean
refuse to then would behave like a past
version of will however in the other
uses of wood there’s no connection
between will and wood in fact in the
most common use of wood talking about
imaginary or in real situations will
would have almost opposite meanings for
example if someone says I’ll help you
with will you can expect them to help
you in reality
if someone says I would help you it
would then you shouldn’t expect them to
help you will and would have completely
different meanings here it’s also good
to remember the different use of wood
aren’t connected to each other at all
the meaning of wood depends completely
on the sentence and the situation
finally wood can refer to different
times depending on how you’re using wood
for example I would come tomorrow but
I’ve already made other plans
would you pass me that blue bag I asked
them to change my ticket but they
wouldn’t do anything these three
sentences are about the future the
present and the past respectively so you
can’t say what time wood refers to by
itself it can refer to any time
depending on the meaning and the context
most importantly what doesn’t
necessarily have a past meaning
sometimes it does but it can also refer
to the present or future what’s the best
way to improve your understanding of
this topic practice of course check out
the full version of this free lesson on
our website Oxford online English comm
where there’s a quiz to check how well
you understood these ideas thanks a lot
for watching and I will see you next
time