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When to use "Will"And When to use "would"?  Please help

Caroline · Accepted Answer

Hello

Which one to use depends entirely on how 'realistically' you visualise doing what you are saying. Therefore, if you suddenly decide to do something you use 'will' to say what you have decided upon: 'I will tell her as soon as I see her.' (You do not use will if the future action is one you have already planned, as in a vacation where you would answer the question 'What will you be doing next summer?' by saying 'We are GOING TO Spain,' not 'We will go to Spain.' The second sentence is gramatically correct but you should use it only if you have just thought it up and have decided to declare it.

Will is used in the first conditional, for example: 'If I finish work early, i will go to the cinema.' (If + present + will --> future ) i.e. you are sure of the consequence. If you are simply stating a hypothesis on the other hand, as in 'If I won the lottery, I would buy a mansion,' you use 'would' since you are not sure your plans will actually materialise. (If + past participle + would ... ) That is the second conditional. Finally you can also use 'would' for the third conditional where you hypothesize what you would have done had something happened, as in 'Had you told me earlier, i would have been able to come along.'

For further information about the conditionals refer to these links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conditional_tense

http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/english-conditionals.html

I hope that helped

Nanajai · Answer

Sorry did'nt understand the first para. you say We will go to spain (which is gramatically correct but we use "we are going to spain" } Here one is sure of the action You have said Will cannot be used if the future action is already planned.
The next para If i finish my work early i will go to cinema One is sure of the action and it is planned how can one use will here
please explain
understood the part explaining would
thank you

CalifJim · Answer

This is probably a much bigger question than can be answered in a single post. You need to get a good book or search the web for material on this topic.

Here are some observations to get you started.

In plain vanilla form, "will" belongs to the present point of view; "would" belongs to the past point of view.

When you report what someone says (present):
1) "Bill SAYS that he WILL invite Irma to the party."

But when you report what someone said (past):
2) "Bill SAID that he WOULD invite Irma to the party."

The difference between "will" and "would" is like the difference between "is" and "was":

3) "Bill SAYS that he IS ready to go."
4) "Bill SAID that he WAS ready to go."

So "will" is used to create the future of the present; "would" is used to create the future of the past.

Here are a few other examples with a THAT-clause:

5) I HOPE that Theresa WILL remember to bring the paper.
6) I HOPED that Theresa WOULD remember to bring the paper.

7) Fred always PLACES the lights so that the rain WILL not damage them.
8) Fred always PLACED the lights so that the rain WOULD not damage them.

In the perfect tenses, "HAVE" ( or "HAS") is part of the present point of view; "HAD" goes with the past point of view.

9) You HAVE already promised me that you WILL help.
10) You HAD already promised me that you WOULD help.

11) An important official HAS hinted that tax rates WILL be reduced.
12) An important official HAD hinted that tax rates WOULD be reduced.

The same contrast is seen in IF-statements. Note how the present forms "goes" and "will" go together in the same sentence and how the past forms "went" and "would" go together:

13) If Bill GOES to the party, Irma WILL go, too.
14) If Bill WENT to the party, Irma WOULD go, too.

But this use of "will" and "would" is more complex (not so vanilla), because in IF-statements, the past form does not really indicate past time! In IF-statements, both the present and the past forms set up a present time point of view! They set up the possibility that some event will take place in the future as measured from the present moment. So the past form is used to show that you believe the event is less likely to happen at all, not that it really happened in the past.

I recommend gaining mastery of the vanilla cases before tackling the conditionals!

Miriam · Answer

Hello, Nanajai

"will" and "going to"
"Will" is the auxiliary used to express future action, state or intention. It is the most "neutral" future, so to speak, in English.
In the sentence "If I finish my work early, I will go to the cinema", we cannot say that I'm "sure of the action". Actually, that future action depends on the condition that I finish my work early.

"Going to", on the other hand, is used instead of "will", to express futurity, when you are talking about a decision you have already made. In "I'm going to the cinema tonight", you mean exactly that: you have decided that you are going, and it does not depend on your work or on anything else.

I hope it helps.

Miriam

Nanajai · Answer

thank you for the quick response
regards and best wishes

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