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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Would
"When I was a child, I would climb trees and stare up at the sky."
A fellow tutor and I are trying to come up with the correct explanation as to why we are allowed to use the present tense form of "climb" and "stare", even though the events are taking place in the past.
The only response we have been able to come up with is that "would" is used for a conditional, and thus it is ok to use the present tense form of the verbs climb and stare. However, "would" in this sense is not being used as a conditional, but as the past tense form of "will". The person who wrote this actually did these things.
The simple answer is that when you insert "would" in the sentence, you are then supposed to follow it up with present tense verb forms because "would" is having us look at it as if we were pushed back into time and already there. Another way to fix it might be to just turn "would" into "used to". However the person we are tutoring is really curious about this and wants to know the answer. Does anybody here know of a rule that doesn't involve looking at "would" as a conditional?
A fellow tutor and I are trying to come up with the correct explanation as to why we are allowed to use the present tense form of "climb" and "stare", even though the events are taking place in the past.
The only response we have been able to come up with is that "would" is used for a conditional, and thus it is ok to use the present tense form of the verbs climb and stare. However, "would" in this sense is not being used as a conditional, but as the past tense form of "will". The person who wrote this actually did these things.
The simple answer is that when you insert "would" in the sentence, you are then supposed to follow it up with present tense verb forms because "would" is having us look at it as if we were pushed back into time and already there. Another way to fix it might be to just turn "would" into "used to". However the person we are tutoring is really curious about this and wants to know the answer. Does anybody here know of a rule that doesn't involve looking at "would" as a conditional?
Top answer
"Would" is a modal and modals take the bare infinitive after them. You are misreading the sentence if you interpret "climb" and "stare" as present tense -- they are bare infinitives.
- "Would" is a modal and modals take the bare infinitive after them.
- You are misreading the sentence if you interpret "climb" and "stare" as present tense -- they are bare infinitives.
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2 Answers
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"Would" is a modal and modals take the bare infinitive after them. You are misreading the sentence if you interpret "climb" and "stare" as present tense -- they are bare infinitives.
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AnonymousDoes anybody here know of a rule that doesn't involve looking at "would" as a conditional?Yes. It's the rule that governs all modal verbs regardless of their use or meaning. A modal verb must be followed by a base form (that is, a bare infinitive). Always.
The modals are will, would, shall, should, can, could, may, might, and mu
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