Would vs. will

Question

A.  Would the England team win the World Cup?B.  Will the England team win the World Cup?What is the difference between the sentences above?Why does a speaker sometimes used 'would' and sometimes, 'will'?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

A. Would the England team win the World Cup?

'Would' makes the question hypothetical. There is an implied unreal condition.

eg Imagine if David Beckham were healthy and able to play for England. ( If he were playing, ) would England win the World Cup?

B. Will the England team win the World Cup? There is nothing hypothetical about this question.

What is the difference between the sentences above? Why does a speaker sometimes used 'would' and sometimes, 'will'?

Clive

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousA. Would the England team win the World Cup?
B. Will the England team win the World Cup?To my ear A is like Was the team going to win? and B is like Is the team going to win?

A seems to be from the viewpoint of the past; B from the viewpoint of the present.

Nevertheless, A can be taken as if accompanied by an if clause that states a condition under which the team would win.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks Clive and CJ for your helpful response. I really appreciate it.

1. In another random examples below, are unreal conditions also implied?
2. Can we also naturally say 'will' instead of 'would' in the examples below?

Would you agree they played well in their last game?
Would you say the answer is correct?
Would you please check the status?

3. I can't think of a broader context to use the rephrase below. Could you please give an example how this question can be asked as from the viewpoint of the past?

CalifJimWas the team going to win?

4. I've also read about 'would' as a polite form and used for uncertainty in getting results as well. How do we know if the question with 'would' is just being polite or uncertain in getting results or implying unreal condition? Kindly give examples.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

1. In another random examples below, are unreal conditions also implied?

2. Can we also naturally say 'will' instead of 'would' in the examples below?

Would you agree they played well in their last game?

Would you say the answer is correct?

Would you please check the status?

The 'would' here is really just for politeness. You could say 'will' here if you want to make the utterance seem more forceful.

I suppose you could say that there's an implied hypothetical condition,

eg ( If I were to ask you this totally stupid question, ) would you agree that . . .

3. I can't think of a broader context to use the rephrase below. Could you please give an example how this question can be asked as from the viewpoint of the past?

CalifJim

“Was the team going to win?”

We sometimes want to talk about past events as a narrative in which we postion ourselves before some event in the past.

eg It was a sunny autumn day. We all sat eagerly in the stadium. The game would begin in 10 minutes. Would the team win? In two hours, we would know.

4. I've also read about 'would' as a polite form and used for uncertainty in getting results as well. How do we know if the question with 'would' is just being polite or uncertain in getting results or implying unreal condition? Kindly give examples.

In most cases, the question itself and/or the context will make the meaning clear. Consider these examples.

Would you open the window, please?

Would you like to live forever?

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

You've explained everything very well.  This makes sense to me now.  I can't thank you enough.

Would vs. will

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions