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Subject + modal + base form of second verb |
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Modals |
Usage |
Examples |
Remarks |
will |
certainty |
Just be patient; he'll come. |
confidence about future events |
Don't call them now - they'll be having dinner. |
confidence about present events |
willingness & decisions |
I'll help you repair your computer. |
Shall is normally used with the 1st person singular (I shall) and plural (we shall); today, it is acceptable to use will. |
requests & orders |
Will you deliver the goods on Monday? |
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Will you be quiet! |
Use will to tell people what to do - an order |
habits |
She'll talk with food in her mouth. |
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would |
future in the past |
There was a chance that my entry would arrive in time for the judging. |
Would is used to talk about something which had not yet happened in the past. |
past willingness |
He would dismantle the computer, clean the different parts and reassemble them. |
Would is used to talk about general past willingness but not a past willingness to do something specific.
Example: She agreed to would come and see me.
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requests - polite |
Would you (please) come this way? |
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past habits |
When she was younger, she would talk with food in her mouth. |
Used to is used to talk about past states that have changed.
Example: My grandfather used to would have a hotel in the city centre. |
conditional - unreal or uncertain situations |
I would tour Europe if I had the money. |
Would is normally used in the main clause of conditional sentences to refer to unreal or uncertain situations. |
reported speech |
"Tomorrow will be clear and sunny."
The forecast predicted that the next day would be clear and sunny. |
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