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Dan: Would you open the door for me, please? Alex: Sure. Let me open the door for you. Is the would in the question conditional? Is it a conditional would?

Moonrise · Accepted Answer

No, it's not conditional. This one is obvious, I think. It's a "polite request and question". One of the would usages is to express a polite request and question.

It's like to say: Could you open the door for me, please?

You could use either could or would there.

If you didn't use would, the sentence would be "Open the door for me, please." It's correct grammatically and it makes sense, but it might sound somewhat like giving a command, especially when used with strangers.

Using would makes your request polite and respectful.

Take it as a rule, if there is an if clause and a result clause, it's conditional; Otherwise, it's not conditional. However, in some contexts, there could be an implied conditional. Take a look at the following link:

###englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-modal-would.htm

(add www instead of ###)

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