Will or Would

will or would
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We use will:

to talk about the future to say what we believe will happen
to talk about what people want to do or are willing to do
to make promises and offers
would is the past tense form of will. Because it is a past tense it is used:

to talk about the past.
to talk about hypotheses things that are imagined rather than true.
for politeness.
Beliefs
We use will

to say what we believe will happen in the future:
We'll be late.
We will have to take the train.

We use would as the past tense of will:

to say what we believed would happen:
I thought I would be late so I would have to take the train.

Offers and promises
We use I will or We will to make offers and promises:

Ill give you a lift home after the party.
We will come and see you next week.

Willingness
to talk about what people want to do or are willing to do:
Well see you tomorrow.
Perhaps dad will lend me the car.

We use would as the past tense of will:

to talk about what people wanted to do or were willing to do:
We had a terrible night. The baby wouldnt go to sleep. He kept waking up and crying.
Dad wouldnt lend me the car, so we had to take the train.

to talk about something that we did often in the past because we wanted to do it:
When they were children they used to spend their holidays at their grandmothers at the seaside.
They would get up early every morning and theyd have a quick breakfast then they would run
across the road to the beach.

Conditionals
We use will in conditionals with if and unless to say what we think will happen in the future or
present:

Ill give her a call if I can find her number.
You wont get in unless you have a ticket.

We use would to talk about hypotheses, about something which is possible but not real:

to talk about the result or effect of a possible situation:
It would be very expensive to stay in a hotel.

in conditionals with words like if and what if. In these sentences the main verb is usually in the past
tense:
I would give her a call if I could find her number.
If I had the money I'd buy a new car.
You would lose weight if you took more exercise.
If he got a new job he would probably make more money.
What if he lost his job. What would happen then?

We use conditionals to give advice:

Dan will help you if you ask him.

Past tenses are more polite:

Dan would help you if you asked him.

Phrases with would:
would you, would you mind (not) -ing, for requests:
Would you carry this for me please?
Would you mind carrying this?
Would you mind not telling him that?

would you like ...; would you like to ..., for offers and invitations:
Would you like to come round to morrow?
Would you like another drink?

I would like ; Id like (you)(to) ..., to say what we want or what we want to do:
Id like that one please.
Id like to go home now.

Id rather (I would rather) to say what we prefer:
Id rather have that one.
Id rather go home now.

I would think, I would imagine, I'd guess, to give an opinion when we are not sure or when we want
to be polite:
Its very difficult I would imagine.
I would think thats the right answer.

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COMMENTS
Rami Reath Diab's picture Rami Reath Diab replied on 3 March, 2014 - 21:15 Jordan PERMALINK

Hi again Mr.Peter,

could you explain the rule of would and will because our teacher in the British council explained that
on this way :
The choice of will or would sometimes depends on how we see a situation.
The speaker thinks it's a real possibility that he will get the job .

Ex1:If I get the job , we will go out to celebrate.

The speaker doesn't think he get the job, He is imaging it.

Ex: If I got the job, I would make a lot of change .

I hope to get your feedback from you as soon as possible.

Ex:

Peter M's picture Peter M replied on 4 March, 2014 - 06:32 Poland PERMALINK

Hello Rami Reath Diab,

Your teacher's explanation is correct, as you can see from the section on this page headed
'Conditionals'.

You can find more information on conditional sentences on this page and this page.

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

paolomarrat's picture paolomarrat replied on 13 September, 2013 - 08:28 Italy PERMALINK

Hello,
could you please tell me the difference between these sentences?
- Would you mind if I seat here?
- Would you mind if I sat here?
I could even say...
- Would you mind me sitting here?
- Would you mind my sitting here?
or I really could not?
Thanks very much.
You are so useful!

Peter M's picture Peter M replied on 14 September, 2013 - 23:14 Poland PERMALINK

Hello paolomarrat,
The first setence ('Would you mind if I seat here?') is incorrect; 'seat' can be a verb, but not in this
context. We need to use the verb 'sat', as in your second (and correct) example: 'Would you mind if
I sat here?' The answer to this, incidentally, is 'No, not at all' if the person sitting is fine with us.
As far as your second pair of sentences goes, I have certainly heard both forms used in everyday
spoken English, but I would say that the first ('Would you mind me sitting here?') is a non-standard
form used in very colloquial English, while the second ('Would you mind my sitting here?') is the
more correct version. The most common way to say this, however, would be 'Would you mind (it) if
I sat here?'
I hope that helps to clarify it for you.
Best wishes,

Peter

SHAKELA's picture SHAKELA replied on 5 September, 2013 - 18:53 Pakistan PERMALINK

How can i improve my english skill.

Salim Khan's picture Salim Khan replied on 5 September, 2013 - 16:10 Pakistan PERMALINK

Dear sir,
I think your website is a blessing for the learners of English. Sometime I come across expressions
in my course book which i find difficult to understand.
Would you be kind enough to explain these expressions.
Thanks
Salim Khan


Hello Salim Khan,
We'll be glad to help and try and answer your queries wherever possible. You can also use the
'Cambridge Dictionaries Online' window on the right to look up items - that will often clarify the
meaning for you, as well as give you some examples and stylistic and grammatical information.
Best wishes,

Peter

Muhammad Anisul Islam's picture Muhammad Anisul... replied on 3 September, 2013 - 11:09
Bangladesh PERMALINK

Hello
Thanks for your excellent teaching. But I can't understand the meaning of following sentence.Please
clarify
What if he lost his job. What would happen then?
Thanks


Hello Muhammad,
'What if...' is a common way of introducing a hypothetic situation. It means something like 'What
would the situation be if...'
Best wishes,

Peter

sksinha's picture sksinha replied on 4 September, 2013 - 06:08 India PERMALINK

It is an inquiry about a hypothetical situation. You may say-"Suppose he loses his job tomorrow,
what will happen then?"

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