please!please!please! help me with 'would'

Question

I really don't know how to use 'would' in conditional with just the context without 'if clauses' in active and passive form in the present. Please explain with the situations and sentences. Please! Please!

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

tenjingI really don't know how to use 'would' in conditional with just the context without 'if clauses' in active and passive form in the present.

Your problem is vague. Please present some example sentences that trouble you.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

In conditional sentences, there is always some construction which creates the untrue situation in the past.
The "if-clause" is most common, but another is "had" with a subject-verb inversion (It is like a question, but it is not asking anything):

"would have" is always in the past.
"would have been" is the passive form.

She would have been at the party had she known about it.
Had he not lost his car keys, he would have been at the party, too.
You wouldn't have failed the test had you studied hard the week before.
He would not have been arrested had he not been so drunk and unruly.

Tenjing · Answer

Please have a look at the following conversations.
Jack: Can you lend me some money, Alex?
Alex: I would lend you some money but I don't have any.
(Is there a conditional? Does Alex mean if I had some money I would lend you.)

Another conversation,
Jack: I was in trouble. Nobody was there to help me,Alex.
Alex: I would've helped but I wasn't there. I was abroad.
(Is there a conditional? Does Alex mean if I had been there I would've helped you)

If my understanding and sentences are correct,what are the other words like 'but' that can be used to show conditional?

One more conversation,
Jack: which of the following answers is correct,the first one or the second one?

Alex: I would say the first one is correct.

Is there a conditional? If yes,what sentence could be in 'if clause'?
Thank you.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Your understanding is correct.
However, "I would...but" is used very often to make an good excuse for not doing something.
You have to judge from the context and situation if the offer is sincere or not.

eg.

I would have donated my kidney to you, but our blood types do not match. (The speaker might be thinking something like this: Thank goodness that our blood types did not match, because I am afraid of surgery.)

CalifJim · Answer

tenjingPlease have a look at the following conversations.Jack: Can you lend me some money, Alex?Alex: I would lend you some money but I don't have any.(Is there a conditional? Does Alex mean if I had some money I would lend you.)Another conversation,Jack: I was in trouble. Nobody was there to help me,Alex.Alex: I would've helped but I wasn't there. I was abroad.(Is there a conditional? Does Alex mean if I had been there I would've helped you)

Yes. It's I would lend you some money if I had some money, but I don't have any money. (present) And it's I would have helped if I had been there, but I wasn't there. (past) In either case, you don't need the if-clause because the but-clause implies it. Besides, including the if-clause causes a lot of unnecessary repetition of words.

tenjingwhat are the other words like 'but' that can be used to show conditional?

I'm not aware of any specific words. I suppose it can be any additional information in the sentence or in the preceding context that makes the if-clause unnecessary.

tenjingAlex: I would say the first one is correct.

This is a slightly different usage of would. It shows that Alex is not absolutely sure that the first one is correct, but he wants to give his opinion that it is correct. If you are sure, you say "It's correct". If you are not so sure, you say, "I would say that it's correct" or "I think that it's correct".

On the other hand, you might say that the hidden if-clause is if you want my opinion.

CJ

Tenjing · Answer

Thank you very much,CJ.
If someone just says,"I would buy a car."it can't be an opinion. I think so. So,how to know it is an opinion or a conditional in a sentence.Are there any ideas so that I could know it's an opinion? Like if I say,"I believe it would be considered correct".it is an opinion right? ?

Anonymous · Answer

I'm not a professional grammarian, but I am a native English speaker, so I feel fully equipped to wade in.

"Would" almost always is used with an if clause (often a hidden, unknowable one).

E.g. "I would love to go to Africa." [if I could afford it, if my husband would let me, if I had any vacation time left, etc.] We can't tell what the "if" is, but in conversation we could go ask "But then why don't you?"

The only real exception to being conditional on a hidden "if" that I can think of off-the-top-of-my-head is using "would" as a question. Some very polite people use "would" to mean "will." The answer to a "would" question that also uses "would" is an exception as well.

E.g. "Would you go with me to the dance?" really means "Will you go with me to the dance?" Grammatically it means "Would you go [if I asked you]" but any English speaker would understand that the statement is indeed the asking.

The only polite reply, of course, is "I would love to [if you asked me]" which we'd all take as an acceptance, given that the original question was not conditional in everyday usage.

It's because we're so terribly polite (in some regions!) ... rather than risking a blunt refusal on a "will you" questions, we revert to the slightly more hypothetical "would you," but because it's now taken to mean "will you" it has lost its original sense of being conditional, when used as a question.

CalifJim · Answer

tenjingIf someone just says,"I would buy a car."

This is puzzling because I don't think anyone would just start a conversation with this kind of statement. There has to be more context.

— What would you do if you had an extra $50,000 lying around?
— I would buy a car.

In any case, you can see that "would" does not have to express an opinion.

tenjinghow to know it is an opinion or a conditional in a sentence.

I don't understand why there is any need to know. An opinion is an opinion whether it contains "would" or not. Opinions can be expressed with "would" or without "would". I suppose if it makes sense to add "if you want my opinion", then it's an opinion.

tenjingif I say,"I believe it would be considered correct", it is an opinion, right? ?

Yes. It sounds like an opinion to me.

Edit: By the way, I think you're getting yourself tied in knots over my mention of "opinion". It's not the fact that there is a "would" in the sentence that makes it an opinion; it's the word "say" in "I would say (that)" that creates the idea that the speaker is going to offer an opinion.

CJ

Tenjing · Answer

A. Who would be the president? Vs. B. Who might be the president?
B. He wouldn't recognize the place now.it has changed. Vs. B. He might not recognize the place now. It has changed.
Please explain the difference in meaning briefly.

Mister Micawber · Answer

A1 suggests a rational choice; A2 does not necessarily do so.
B1 projects assurance; B2 projects doubt.

please!please!please! help me with 'would'

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