TeacherJapan Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
How to use "would"?
Thank you very much everyone for your ideas and insights:-) I have a question about "would." In the following example, I used "would." I think very few people would say that they read dictionaries.
One of my students asked me why I used "would." To me, I put "would" without thinking much about it. But since it's my job to explain how it works, I would like to make sure if my explanation is correct.
Am I right when I say that I use "would" in a particular sentence because it's rare to ask someone about what they use dictionaries for. I just want to imply that if you were talking about how to use "dictionaries", which is a very unlikely topic in daily life.
One of my students asked me why I used "would." To me, I put "would" without thinking much about it. But since it's my job to explain how it works, I would like to make sure if my explanation is correct.
Am I right when I say that I use "would" in a particular sentence because it's rare to ask someone about what they use dictionaries for. I just want to imply that if you were talking about how to use "dictionaries", which is a very unlikely topic in daily life.
Top answer
Yes, I agree with you. "would" implies a condition "If you asked them" or similar. "I think very few people say that they read dictionaries" implies that it is a question that most people have expressed an opinion about, which is probably not true.
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Yes, I agree with you. "would" implies a condition "If you asked them" or similar. "I think very few people say that they read dictionaries" implies that it is a question that most people have expressed an opinion about, which is probably not true.
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