Would

Persian Learner

EverestCTSAren’t the woulds in my original sentences below would of probability? Or are they second conditionals?

Would of 'probability', as they stand.

My first interpretation of 'would' in the given sentences is 'most likely/very likely'.

He is very likely to know the answer.

You could use second conditionals to offer advice politely:

A: Jack is a linguist. He would help you if you asked him. ~ (Why don't you ask Jack?)

B: Great! Is he available on WhatsApp?

But this just borrows the second-conditional structure for politeness.

At any rate, 'would' expresses a distance from reality; the context should tell us how distant it is.

The second conditional sentences also use this property of 'would' to express improbable/hypothetical conditions. But it's still about probability! Some conditions can only be imagined to be met in your mind! Some of them are unlikely but possible, and some are used in an artificial way, like in offering advice or polite requests. Degrees of probability/possibility could also differ in the if-clauses:

If I were you, ...

If he was alive, ...

If he was in Poland, ...

If you did a PhD degree, ...

If you you went to Turkey, ...

If you helped your brother, ...

If you asked him, ...

However, what is common among all uses of 'would' is taking distance from reality to create a desired sense. If it is used for politeness or willingness, it is still dealing with this taking distance from reality to produce those effects. Let context tell you what degree of probability it carries instead of taking a magnifier looking for implied if-clauses; when an if-clause is implied, it is implicitly yelling at you that it's there, and then there's no need for unearthing it!

Hi Persian Learner,

When you said would expresses a distance from reality, are you only talking about conditional/hypothetical would or would of probability as well? Thanks.