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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary
Would have lived
"The dig also turned up "extremely high status pottery", coins, brooches and the bones of animals including a suckling pig and wild animals which had been hunted.
"We've found a whole range of artefacts demonstrating just how luxurious a life that was led by the elite family that would have lived at the villa," said Dr David Roberts, of Historic England. "It's clearly not your run-of-the-mill domestic settlement."" (BBC website.)
Why is the conditional "would have lived" used in the above context? Does it mean that the archeologist expressed his doubt (hesitation) whether the "elite family" had really lived there during Roman times?
"We've found a whole range of artefacts demonstrating just how luxurious a life that was led by the elite family that would have lived at the villa," said Dr David Roberts, of Historic England. "It's clearly not your run-of-the-mill domestic settlement."" (BBC website.)
Why is the conditional "would have lived" used in the above context? Does it mean that the archeologist expressed his doubt (hesitation) whether the "elite family" had really lived there during Roman times?
Top answer
It is common when discussing how people lived or acted in the past to use the would have form. It indicates that the statement is made based on inference from the evidence we have rather than on detailed records. In this case we don't know who the family were, but we can reasonably assume that they were wealthy and important based on the evidence we have.
- It is common when discussing how people lived or acted in the past to use the would have form.
- It indicates that the statement is made based on inference from the evidence we have rather than on detailed records.
- In this case we don't know who the family were, but we can reasonably assume that they were wealthy and important based on the evidence we have.
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2 Answers
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It is common when discussing how people lived or acted in the past to use the would have form. It indicates that the statement is made based on inference from the evidence we have rather than on detailed records.
In this case we don't know who the family were, but we can reasonably assume that they were wealthy and important based on the evidence we have.
In this case we don't know who the family were, but we can reasonably assume that they were wealthy and important based on the evidence we have.
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Blue JayIt is common when discussing how people lived or acted in the past to use the would have form.Thank you for the reply.
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