Modal verb: would

Monday, November 5, 2012




Modal verbs can give the best speaker a headache because they are verbs that behave very irregularly in English. They are used with other verbs to express different meanings, such as:

ability
possibility
probability
permission
advisability
necessity
requesting assistance
making conclusions
giving instructions
making suggestions
showing preference
making offers
maing promises or predictions


Today I will focus on one use of the modal would: to indicate repetition in the past.

When they first met, they would often go biking in the country.
When I was a child, I would always play soccer with my friends.
When he was a student, he would always do his homework.
When I was at the university, I would speak Spanish. Now I can't remember anything.

It expresses the idea that something was an old habit which stopped in the past. What things would you do that you don't do anymore?



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