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Stenka25 Posted 18 years ago
Vocabulary

the meaning of would

0There's a story about a farmer who had a donkey. In that story there are the following sentences. 02br
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00 A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. The donkey 00would00 shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well. 02br
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00What I want to ask is the meaning of the underlined "would." Can you tell me and another example if you can. 02br
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00And a man I know gave me the below answer.02br
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00The "would" here gives an idea of a repeated action in the past.00 It could give the sense as always or every time 02br
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00For example02br
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00When I went to bed, I would listen to the owls outside.02br
00When the child was happy, he would laugh.02br
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00But I don't think my 'would' cannot mean a repeated action in the past.02br
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00You see, donkey just once shook it off and took a step up, not repeatedly.02br
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00Can you give me an exact meaning of00 would00 in question?02br
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4 Answers
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0 .02br
00It does indeed indicate a repeated action in the past: 01u00every time02u00 the farmer threw a shovel full down the well onto the donkey's back, the donkey would shake it off and take 01u00another 02u00step up.0-
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0Now I got it. 02br
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00Thank, Mister Micawber. 0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Stenka2512cite10I don't think my 'would' cannot mean a repeated action in the past12blockquote
10That's strange, since both Yankee and I answered the exact same question for you last month, and both of us told you it means repeated action in the past.02br
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00See 05000.02br
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0Yeah, you are right.02br
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00But 0100StartFragment00>02br
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01font00The story has not been quoted in full02font00. 01font00That's why it seems a little strange02font00.02br
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00...02br
02br
00A few sh

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