Question to Native speakers.

Question

When you guys use “would” in sentences, do you guys ever think of it’s “if clause” like I do? When I use it in the sentences, I always think about it’s if-clause, which slows down my speaking ability. I would like to know how you guys tackle this so I could speak without thinking about “if clause”. Please have your opinions. Thank you in advance.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

anonymousWhen you guys use “would” in sentences, do you guys ever think of its “if clause” like I do? When I use it in the sentences, I always think about its if-clause, which slows down my speaking ability. I would like to know how you guys tackle this so I could speak without thinking about “if clause”. Please ~~have~~ give me your opinions. Thank you in advance.

Would is not always associated with an if-clause. It is in type 2 and type 3 conditional sentences. There are other uses where there is no "if-clause."

CalifJim · Answer

anonymousI always think about ~~it’s~~ its if-clause, which slows down my speaking ability.

Don't think about an if-clause and your speaking will speed up.

Note that 'would' doesn't always have the same meaning, so you may not be able to find an if-clause that goes with it. Always trying to find an if-clause will REALLY slow you down in those cases.

Watch out especially for these:

'would' can be used like "was/were going/expected to".
'would' can be used like "was/were going to and did".
'would not' can be used like "refused to".
'would' can be used like "used to".

Fox confirmed Monday that the judge would return for a second season.
She would go on to marry seven more times, including actor Richard Burton twice. 
Roberts would not say whether Griffith's fingerprints were found in the vehicle.
When we were children, our family would spend every summer in the mountains.

Note also that you don't need an if-clause if the condition is already embedded in the sentence in another way. For example, a gerund construction that expresses some kind of activity can be the 'condition' when in the subject position. For example, the first sentence below says, in effect, "If we close the museum, it would ...".

Closing the museum would certainly save the government some money.
Trading a young position player would be a more viable proposition.
Lowering the fee would make home prices more competitive.

anonymousWhen you guys use “would” in sentences, do you guys ever think of ~~it’s~~ its“if clause” like I do?

No. Why would we do that?

anonymoushow you guys tackle this

For native speakers there is nothing to tackle. We've heard and said "would" millions of times, so it comes out automatically when needed.

The key word is "automatic". You have to repeat sentences that contain 'would', especially commonly used sentences, until 'would' becomes automatic.

CJ

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