Would

Question

Hi,Because Ms. Houston had been credited on previous recordings, including a 1984 duet with Teddy Pendergrass, she was ruled ineligible for the best new artist category of the Grammy Awards; the eligibility criteria have since been changed. But with “Saving All My Love for You,” she won her first Grammy award, for best female pop vocal performance, an award she would win twice more.Q1) Is this one of the uses of "would" where you talk about an event that happened between some point in the past and now? It indicates a future situation from the viewpoint of some time in the past, but it is the past event from the perspective of the moment of speaking.  This use of "would" seems somewhat similar to that of the past perfect in that it has the time reference in the past.  My grammar book has the following example:ex) Only a few months later their love would change to hate.Q2) Can you replace "would" with "was to" or "was destined to" in the above sentence?ex) But with “Saving All My Love for You,” she won her first Grammy award, for best female pop vocal performance, an award she was to/destined to win twice more.Q3)  Can you use "won" instead of "would win"?ex) But with “Saving All My Love for You,” she won her first Grammy award, for best female pop vocal performance, an award she won twice more.Thank You.

Dimsumexpress · Accepted Answer

My intuitive and non-academic answer would be "no" to all 3 questions.
"was to" connotes obligation, must.
"Would" implies probability as used.

Q3- "won" would mean she actually got the award.. But she didn't, right? It would drastically alter the meaning in my opinion.
Again, may be I can learn from CJ.

Anonymous · Answer

The conditionals - would, could, should, may, might, can, will, etc. - are the most complex part of English grammar. With these words you are not just dealing strictly with time periods, as with the regular tenses, you're also dealing with very subtle nuances and shades of meaning, which are difficult to explain completely in grammar books.

In the original article, the construction, "...an award she would win twice more.", is in past time (nominally the past tense of "will win"), since the whole article is talking about a situation in the past - moreover, Houston is dead, so everything is now past tense when talking about her. However, the use of a conditional alerts the reader that maybe something more is being implied here. The use of a conditional tends to soften the statement, adding tentativeness to it - the fact that Houston recently died, after a life of super-stardom that was wrecked by drugs and abuse (she was quite a lovable person, not at all a diva like some stars), may have something to do with this. This kind of softer statement is in keeping with an article about a recently deceased person, as this softness can be interpreted as respect for the dead.

Jooney · Answer

Thank you for your answer, DE and Anonymous.

Despite your help, I'm still at a loss to explain why "would" was used.

CalifJim · Answer

jooneyshe won her first Grammy award, for best female pop vocal performance, an award she would win twice more.

Q1) Is this one of the uses of "would" where you talk about an event that happened between some point in the past and now?

Yes, it is.

jooneyIt indicates a future situation from the viewpoint of some time in the past, but it is the past event from the perspective of the moment of speaking.

True.

jooneyThis use of "would" seems somewhat similar to that of the past perfect in that it has the time reference in the past.

Yes. "had" gives you something anterior to the past reference time; "would" gives you something posterior to the past reference time.

jooneyQ2) Can you replace "would" with "was to" or "was destined to" in the above sentence?

ex) But with “Saving All My Love for You,” she won her first Grammy award, for best female pop vocal performance, an award she was to/destined to win twice more.

You can. Or, less elegantly, ... an award she was going to win twice more.

jooneyQ3) Can you use "won" instead of "would win"?

ex) But with “Saving All My Love for You,” she won her first Grammy award, for best female pop vocal performance, an award she won twice more.

You can, but in this case you lose the flavor of the layered time references.
___________________________

This is probably the simplest use of "would" that exists. It's the future of the past in the same way that "will" is the future of the present. There are no complications regarding conditionals, and even though "would" is technically a modal verb, this is the least modal usage you can find of it.

CJ

Jooney · Answer

It's very clear now.  Thank you so much for the help, CJ.<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

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