would

CEFRA1

/wəd/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    Used to talk about a possible action or polite request.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    Past tense of will; usually followed by a bare infinitive.

Examples

  • I would strongly advise against going out on your own.

  • It would take forever for me to explain everything.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
4

Also pronounced

  • /(w)ʊ(l)d/
  • /əd/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. Used to form the "anterior future", or "future in the past", indicating a futurity relative to a past time.

  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)

  3. Was or were determined to; indicating someone's insistence upon doing something.

More examples

In context

  • This is what I would have said.

  • Hi! I thought I'd come over and introduce myself. My name’s Chema.

  • I'm really flattered you would call your daughter after me.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

If I had enough money, I blank travel around the world.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Old English wolde, past tense of willan, predecessor of will. The loss of /l/ in this word is probably due to weak stress, as in should and could (though in the latter, the /l/ was due to the analogy of the former two).