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Viceidol Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Using "would" to make questions

0Affirmative: She 01font01b00would02b02font00 be at John's place.02br
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00Negative: She 01b01font00wouldn't02font02b00 be at John's place.02br
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00Will the question sentence be "01b01font00Would 02font02b00she be at John's place?"?02br
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00Please enlighten me on this. Thank you very much!0-
  

Top answer

02br 02br 00But how do you anticipate using these? If she had her choice, she would be at John's place. 0-

— BarbaraPA

  • 02br 02br 00But how do you anticipate using these?
  • If she had her choice, she would be at John's place.
  • 0-
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12 Answers
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0Sure, that's fine.02br
02br
00But how do you anticipate using these? If she had her choice, she would be at John's place. Something like that?0-
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01cite10Grammar Geek12cite12br
10But how do you anticipate using these? If she had her choice, she would be at John's place. Something like that?12br
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10I was trying to use the "would" to express possibility. So I came up with these three sentences. It's like "A: Do you know where she
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0This is interesting. 02br
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00Can you really use 'would' as a substitute for may/might and still carry almost the same meaning?0-
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0No. 02br
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00She COULD be at John's place.02br
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00She WOULD be at John's place if... [something]0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10New2grammar12cite10Can you really use 'would' as a substitute for may/might and still carry almost the same meaning?12br
12blockquote
10 Yes, but in a very limited way. As a general rule, no. The use of 01i00will 02i00or01i00 would02i00 that way is not o
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0Actually one of my grammar books says "would" can be used to suggest "possiblity", so I thought that it could have the same meaning of "may/might", which suggests "possiblity".02br
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00If "would" cannot be used to suggest "possiblity" like may/might does, then what does the "would" mean in the following sentences? (All these sentences are from the book I mentioned above)
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0 I think these two are a bit different, even though close: 02br
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01i00 "You 01b01span00wouldn't 02span02b00know him."02i00 01font00[I don't01b00 think02b00 that you know him, 01b00based on my experience02b0
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0Your book is trying to keep everything very simple. Otherwise students will think English is too hard to learn!02br
01i00would02i00 doesn't mean 01u00possible02u00 in the same way that 01i00may02i00 and 01i00might02i00 do. 01i00would02i00 is actually more definite, more c
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0Thank you for your explanation,Marius Hancu, Jim. Now I really unserstand what is all about between these modals. Indeed, just like Jim said "would" is probably the most difficult word in English to explain, because all my grammar books never mention the thing you've said. If it wouldn't have been your help, I wouldn't have understand these modals. Thank you.0-
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01cite10CalifJim12cite11b10Would12b10 is probably the most difficult word in English to explain!12br
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10I fully agree. 0-
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