That would be/is impossible

Question

Michael says "that would be impossible' but when Karl is talking to Stillwater he says "it's impossible", why does he use "is" not "would" like Michael? I know the use of 'would' is like conditional but why Karl says 'it IS impossible"?Karl is a child that is building a spaceship. his friend Michael when see this spaceship says that it's not a real spaceship so can't fly.Michael: It's not a real spaceship, Karl. It's never actually going to fly. That would be impossible.(Karl is now talking to his friend Stillwater):Karl: Michael says there's no way my spaceship is ever going to fly, ever. They say it's impossible.Stillwater, S01E01

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Tara2why does he use "is" not "would"

He says it as he understands it in the context he is in, just as Michael says it as he understands it in the context he is in.

Tara2Michael: It's not a real spaceship, Karl. It's never actually going to fly. That would be impossible.
...
Karl: Michael says there's no way my spaceship is ever going to fly, ever. They say it's impossible.

As a matter of fact, Michael could have said "That's impossible", and Karl could have said "They say it would be impossible".

Choices like this just depend on how a person feels about the information he is passing along at the time he is speaking.

Michael is thinking something like "If you tried to make it fly, you would fail". That is, there is a certain amount of conditionality here.

Karl is thinking something like "Michael said it would be impossible to make it fly, so it must be that it is impossible".

It's hardly worth the trouble to analyze such things is such great detail. These are, in a way, just alternate ways of saying the same thing. If something is impossible, then obviously if you tried to do it, it would be impossible. There are a lot of expressions that we say either way when the outcome of some undertaking is not yet known.

— It looks like we might have 2% more sales this year than last year.
— That's an improvement! / That would be an improvement!

— We think this medication might not be licensed for use against cancer.
— That's bad news for patients. / That would be bad news for patients.

— He's worried about kids entering the property and setting off firecrackers.
— That's trespassing, of course. / That would be trespassing, of course.

CJ

That would be/is impossible

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