would

English Online Dictionary. What means would‎? What does would mean?

English

Alternative forms

• wou'd (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old English wolde, past tense of willan, predecessor of will.

Pronunciation

• (stressed)
  • (UK, US, General Australian) IPA^(key): /wʊd/
  • Rhymes: -ʊd
  • (obsolete) IPA^(key): /wʊld/, /wuːld/
• (unstressed)
  • (UK, US, General Australian) IPA^(key): /wəd/, /əd/
• Homophone: wood

Verb

would (auxiliary)

1. Past tense of will; usually followed by a bare infinitive.
   1. Used to form the "anterior future", or "future in the past", indicating a futurity relative to a past time. [from 9th c.]
   2. Used to, did repeatedly, habitually; indicates an action that happened several times in the past (cannot describe continuous states, as in I used to live in London) [from 9th c.]

      When we were younger, we would cycle out to the beach most summer Sundays.
   3. Was or were determined to; indicating someone's insistence upon doing something. [from 18th c.]
   4. (archaic) Wanted to. [from 9th c.]
      • 1852, James Murdock, trans. Johann Lorenz Mosheim, Institutes of Ecclesiastical History, II.7.iii:

        The Greeks, especially those who would be thought adepts in mystic theology, ran after fantastic allegories […].

   5. (archaic) Used with ellipsis of the infinitive verb, or postponement to a relative clause, in various senses. [from 9th c.]
   6. (obsolete) Wished, desired (something). [9th–19th c.]
2. A modal verb, the subjunctive of will; usually followed by a bare infinitive.
   1. Used as the auxiliary of the simple conditional modality, indicating a state or action that is conditional on another. [from 9th c.]
   2. Without explicit condition, or with loose or vague implied condition, indicating a hypothetical or imagined state or action.
   3. Suggesting conditionality or potentiality in order to express a sense of politeness, tentativeness, indirectness, hesitancy, uncertainty, etc. [from 9th c.]
   4. Used to express what the speaker would do in another person's situation, as a means of giving a suggestion or recommendation.

      It's disgraceful the way that they've treated you. I would write and complain.

   5. Used to express the speaker's belief or assumption.

   6. Could naturally be expected to (given the situation, the tendencies of someone's character etc.). [from 18th c.]
   7. Used interrogatively to express a polite request; are (you) willing to …? [from 15th c.]

   8. (chiefly archaic) Might wish (+ verb in past subjunctive); often used in the first person (with or without that) in the sense of "if only". [from 13th c.]
      • 1912, Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, translated by F. C. Conybeare (Loeb Classical Library), 8.16:

        But as the youth increased their annoyance by declaring that the goddess was quite right, because the Emperor was Archon Eponym of the city of Athens, he said: "Would that he also presided the Panathenaic festival."

   9. (chiefly archaic, transitive or control verb) Might desire; wish (something). [from 15th c.]

Usage notes

• As an auxiliary verb, would is followed by the bare infinitive (without to):

  John said he would have fish for dinner.

• Would is frequently contracted to 'd, especially after a pronoun (as in I'd, you'd, and so on).
• The term would-be retains the senses of both desire and potentiality (those of wannabe and might-be, respectively).
• Indicating a wish, would takes a clause in the past subjunctive (irrealis) mood; this clause may or may not be introduced with that. Most commonly in modern usage, it is followed by the adverb rather, as in I would rather that he go now. A call to a deity or other higher power is sometimes interposed after would and before the subjunctive clause, as in Would to God that […] ; see the citations page for examples.
• When used, mainly archaically, in the sense of "if only", the first-person subject pronoun is often omitted.
• For past habits, as a synonym of used to, would cannot be used with stative verbs.

Synonyms

• (indicating an action in the past that happened repeatedly or commonly): used to
• (used to express a polite request): be so good as to, kindly, please

Derived terms

Related terms

• will - present tense of would
• wouldn't - negative of would
• wouldst - archaic second person singular form of would
• would like
• would've

Translations

Note: many languages express some meanings of would using a mood or tense rather than by a particular word.

Noun

would (plural woulds)

1. Something that would happen, or would be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality.

Interjection

would

1. (slang, idiomatic) Ellipsis of I would: used to denote that the speaker finds another person sexually attractive.

See also

• could
• should
• Appendix:English modal verbs
• Appendix:English tag questions
• Modal verbs on Wikipedia.Wikipedia