HELLO THERE !...

It's great to see you !

And by the way, did you know about the previous expression ?

Here are some more examples about how to say it !... And just in case you didn't...

And let's just open the document titled « Greetings »...

And by the way, in your opinion...

What's the difference between saying something like « It's great to see you ! »... and something like « Nice to meet you ! »

YOU GOT IT!

And this being said...

How's it going ?

And getting back to business... Where were we ?

Oh ! That's right ! Last time, we just talked a little bit about...

THE FUTURE !...

And now, for this time... Why not to speak a little bit about how the future could be...

If things were a bit... DIFFERENT !...

But before we do that... Let's see if, just for this time, we could learn the past forms of two verbs in particular, namely...

HAVE and BE !...

THERE YOU GO !

Now, this being said... Let us just ask ourselves a rather interesting question...

What would we do if we had...

ONE MILLION DOLLAR$ !...

But before we do that... Let's just « rewind » a little bit, while also reviewing the sentence a little bit...

And let's now see if you can find anything special about this sentence...

If we had a million dollars, what would we do ?

THAT'S RIGHT !!!

Let's take a look to a few similar sentences, and see if you notice at least TWO special things about them... But before discussing your findings...

If I had a hammer, I would hammer in the morning ! If I was the prime minister, I would make education really affordable for everyone !... If all students listened in their English classes, all students would be bilingual ! If there was no Santa Clause, there would be no present under the Christmas tree !...

YES ! The word « WOULD » !... And can you notice anything else about it ?...

TRUE ! The verb before WOULD is in the past tense!

So now... Let's say I ask you how should one proceed in order to build the conditional form, in English...

What WOULD you answer ?...

EXACTLY !... And if we WERE to condense it into some magical formula...

Here is how it would look like !...

If + Phrase in past tense + Subject + WOULD + Verb in infinitive tense

So, getting back to the original question...

Why not to take a few minutes to think of at least 3 THINGS you WOULD do if you HAD a million dollars !...

And to get an idea of how it should be done... Let's just take this dialogue as a model !...

So let's just open the document called... « What would you do with a million ! »

AWESOME !...

There are other ways in which WOULD can be used as well !... Now, believe it or not...

You want to find out what they are ? Well... OK !...

So just try to guess what WOULD indicates in each of these groups of examples...

I would love to be a rock star !... What I would really like is to eat some ice cream. I would like to have some coffee as well... GROUP OF EXAMPLES # 1

GOOD JOB !... Indeed, WOULD can indicate desire or inclination ! And what else ?...

GROUP OF EXAMPLES # 2 Would you like some coffee? Would you open the door, please? Would you come with me, please? I'm afraid to walk alone in the dark !...

YES !... WOULD can also be used for POLITE requests, and suggestions !

So, to sum it up... It just looks like WOULD can be used for these three basic reasons...

WHEN TO USE « WOULD »... 1) Desire or inclination 2) Polite requests or suggestions 3) Building the conditional form

So, as you can see... The conditional FORM is only one of the things for which WOULD can be used...

And yet... All of the previous sentences happen to be very good examples of the conditional TENSE...

So in other words... What do you think is the only word that is needed to produce the conditional tense, in English ?

YES ! The magic word is, of course... WOULD !...

So, to be more precise... What do we need to do in order to conjugate an English verb in the conditional tense ?

THAT'S RIGHT !... Just like this !...

Subject + WOULD + Verb

Doesn't this look like the way we use another word we just saw last time ? Besides...

And in fact... Which word was it, already ?

YES !... WILL !...

So in other words... To what kind of word does WOULD belong, in your opinion ?

And more precisely, is it... A) a NOUN B) a VERB C) an AUXILLARY or MODAL ?...

BINGO AGAIN !... You're becoming an expert !...

And then... What about getting some practice ?

So let's see if you can conjugate the following verb in the conditional tense...

FLY

And what about conjugating this verb... In the negative form ?...

And by the way... How do we do it !... Or in the abbreviated form ?...

PERFECT ! And just to let you know how good you've become...

Let's just see if you can also conjugate the following verb in the conditional tense...

JUMP

EXCELLENT !... And now, what about getting to the real thing ?...

And let's see if you can use the conditional tense, or in other words the modal WOULD in actual sentences !...

And to do so, let's just open this great document !... « Wouldexercise »

GREAT JOB ! And while we're at it...

Why not to check whether you can also use the modal WOULD in somewhat more practical situations, such as...

Ordering food at a RESTAURANT !... For instance !

And to that end... Let's just go to Dialogue 2, in the document titled « Restaurant»... And there we go !

EXQUISITE !

And by the way, believe it or not, but WOULD can also be used in a few more special ways...

And by looking at the next few examples, let's see if you can find out one of these other contexts for using WOULD !

Every Saturday I would go on a long bike ride. We would go to the beach after school. We would put on our swimsuits. We would head for the waves. The guys would smoke and act "cool".

EXACTLY ! For past habits !

Kind of good to know, isn't it ?

And since you already seem to be so good at it...

Let's see if you can find another, and rather subtle use of the modal WOULD, by looking at the next few sentences !

She said that she would buy some eggs. (« I will buy some eggs.") The candidate said that he wouldn't increase taxes. (« I will not increase taxes.") Why didn't you bring your umbrella? I told you it would rain! ("It is going to rain.")

YES ! As a sort of FUTURE IN PAST !

So in other words... WOULD can be used as a past form of the modal WILL, which is rather common, and not only in conversation, as you can see through the following sentences !

Even as a boy, he knew that he WOULD succeed in life. I thought it WOULD rain so I brought my umbrella. In London she met the man that she WOULD one day marry. He left 5 minutes late, unaware that the delay WOULD save his life.

Can you find one final use of the modal WOULD, through the last few examples ? And while we're at it...

He wanted a divorce but his wife would not agree. We wanted to pass through this field, but the owner would not let us do so. Yesterday morning, the car wouldn't start.

YES INDEED ! For past refusals !

So... Since it appears that you are now a master of the conditional tense and of the modal WOULD...

It looks like the only things that we could say, at that point, would naturally be...

CONGRATULATIONS !...

And of course... SEE YOU NEXT CLASS !...

Mister Tremblay cours d'anglais All rights reserved Tous droits réservés