CHAPTER 8.

CONJUGATIONS WITH THE AUXILIARY WOULD

1. Uses of the au!"!a#$ Wou"%
English verbs conjugated with the auxiliary &ou"% are used in a variety of ways. For instance, the
auxiliary &ou"% is often used in polite requests and suggestions. In the following examples, the
verbs conjugated with &ou"% are underlined.
e.g. Would you please tell me the time
!erhaps it would be a good idea to call the office.
"he auxiliary &ou"% can also express a futu#e !' the (ast, and is used in reporting statements and
questions which pertained to the future at the time they were made.
e.g. #he as$ed if we would help her the next day.
"hey said they would arrange to meet us the following wee$.
"he auxiliary &ou"% can also be used in wishes pertaining to the future, and in the main clauses of
sentences containing false or improbable conditions. "hese two uses of the auxiliary &ou"% will be
discussed in the next chapter.
e.g. I wish they would help us.
It would have saved time if I had $nown what to do.

). *o#+at!o' of ,o'-u.at!o's &!th the au!"!a#$ Wou"%
"here are four types of conjugation formed with the auxiliary &ou"%% the #imple, the &ontinuous,
the !erfect, and the !erfect &ontinuous.
"he conjugations with &ou"% are formed in the same way as the Future conjugations, except that
instead of &!"" and sha"", &ou"% and shou"% are used. In the conjugations with &ou"%, shou"% may
be used for the first person in 'ritish English( however, &ou"% is normally used for the first person
in )merican English.
*i$e &!"" and sha"", &ou"% is a modal auxiliary. When verbs are conjugated with modal auxiliaries,
the results are sometimes referred to as +oo%s rather than tenses.
a. The s!+("e ,o'-u.at!o' &!th the au!"!a#$ Wou"%
"he #imple conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% is used to express non+continuous actions.
In spo$en English, the auxiliary &ou"% is frequently contracted to /%. It should be noted that this
contraction is the same as that used for ha%.
In the case of the verb to &o#0, the #imple conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% is as follows%
W!thout Co't#a,t!o's W!th Co't#a,t!o's
I would wor$ I,d wor$
you would wor$ you,d wor$
he would wor$ he,d wor$
she would wor$ she,d wor$
it would wor$ it,d wor$
we would wor$ we,d wor$
they would wor$ they,d wor$
"he contraction !t/% is used less frequently than the other contractions, since it is more difficult to
pronounce.
)s illustrated below, the word order for questions and negative statements in the #imple
conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% is similar to that in other English conjugations. "he negative
tag questions are underlined.
In spo$en English, &ou"% 'ot is frequently contracted to &ou"%'/t.
S!+("e ,o'-u.at!o' &!th Wou"%
T$(e of State+e't Ea+("es

)ffirmative #tatement% I would wor$.
"hey would wor$.

-uestion% Would I wor$
Would they wor$

.egative #tatement% I would not wor$.
"hey would not wor$.

.egative -uestion without Would I not wor$
&ontractions% Would they not wor$

.egative -uestion with Wouldn,t I wor$
&ontractions% Wouldn,t they wor$

.egative "ag -uestion% I would wor$, wouldn,t I
"hey would wor$, wouldn,t they
"he #imple conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% is often used in polite requests and suggestions.
e.g. Would you please pass the butter
!erhaps it would be best to postpone the meeting.
In the first example, &ou"% (ass is used in a polite request. In the second example, &ou"% 1e is
used in a polite suggestion.
1. The ,o't!'uous ,o'-u.at!o' &!th the au!"!a#$ Wou"%
"he &ontinuous conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% is used to express continuous, ongoing
actions.
In the case of the verb to &o#0, the &ontinuous conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% is as follows%
I would be wor$ing
you would be wor$ing
he would be wor$ing
she would be wor$ing
it would be wor$ing
we would be wor$ing
they would be wor$ing
)s illustrated below, the word order for questions and negative statements in the &ontinuous
conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% is similar to that in other English conjugations. "he negative
tag questions are underlined.
Co't!'uous ,o'-u.at!o' &!th Wou"%
T$(e of State+e't Ea+("es

)ffirmative #tatement% I would be wor$ing.
"hey would be wor$ing.

-uestion% Would I be wor$ing
Would they be wor$ing

.egative #tatement% I would not be wor$ing.
"hey would not be wor$ing.

.egative -uestion without Would I not be wor$ing
&ontractions% Would they not be wor$ing

.egative -uestion with Wouldn,t I be wor$ing
&ontractions% Wouldn,t they be wor$ing

.egative "ag -uestion% I would be wor$ing, wouldn,t I
"hey would be wor$ing, wouldn,t they
,. The (e#fe,t ,o'-u.at!o' &!th the au!"!a#$ Wou"%
In the case of the verb to &o#0, the !erfect conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% is as follows%
I would have wor$ed
you would have wor$ed
he would have wor$ed
she would have wor$ed
it would have wor$ed
we would have wor$ed
they would have wor$ed
)s illustrated below, the word order for questions and negative statements in the !erfect
conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% is similar to that in other English conjugations. "he negative
tag questions are underlined.
Pe#fe,t ,o'-u.at!o' &!th Wou"%
T$(e of State+e't Ea+("es

)ffirmative #tatement% I would have wor$ed.
"hey would have wor$ed.

-uestion% Would I have wor$ed
Would they have wor$ed

.egative #tatement% I would not have wor$ed.
"hey would not have wor$ed.

.egative -uestion without Would I not have wor$ed
&ontractions% Would they not have wor$ed

.egative -uestion with Wouldn,t I have wor$ed
&ontractions% Wouldn,t they have wor$ed

.egative "ag -uestion% I would have wor$ed, wouldn,t I
"hey would have wor$ed, wouldn,t they
/nli$e the !erfect conjugations in the English past, present, and future tenses, the !erfect
conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% is not generally used to express an action completed by a
certain time.
Instead, the !erfect conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% may be used as a past form of the #imple
conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"%. "he verbs in the following examples are underlined.
P#ese't *o#+ Past *o#+
I would li$e that. I would have li$ed that.
We would write to him. We would have written to him.
In the first example, the !erfect conjugation &ou"% ha2e "!0e% is used as the past form of the
#imple conjugation &ou"% "!0e. In the second example, the !erfect conjugation &ou"% ha2e
&#!tte' is used as the past form of the #imple conjugation &ou"% &#!te.
%. The (e#fe,t ,o't!'uous ,o'-u.at!o' &!th the au!"!a#$ Wou"%
In the case of the verb to &o#0, the !erfect &ontinuous conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% is as
follows%
I would have been wor$ing
you would have been wor$ing
he would have been wor$ing
she would have been wor$ing
it would have been wor$ing
we would have been wor$ing
they would have been wor$ing
)s illustrated below, the word order for questions and negative statements in the !erfect &ontinuous
conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% is similar to that in other English conjugations. "he negative
tag questions are underlined.
Pe#fe,t ,o't!'uous ,o'-u.at!o' &!th Wou"%
T$(e of State+e't Ea+("es

)ffirmative #tatement% I would have been wor$ing.
"hey would have been wor$ing.

-uestion% Would I have been wor$ing
Would they have been wor$ing

.egative #tatement% I would not have been wor$ing.
"hey would not have been wor$ing.

.egative -uestion without Would I not have been wor$ing
&ontractions% Would they not have been wor$ing

.egative -uestion with Wouldn,t I have been wor$ing
&ontractions% Wouldn,t they have been wor$ing

.egative "ag -uestion% I would have been wor$ing, wouldn,t I
"hey would have been wor$ing, wouldn,t they
*i$e the !erfect conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"%, the !erfect &ontinuous conjugation with the
auxiliary &ou"% is not generally used to express an action completed by a certain time.
Instead, the !erfect &ontinuous conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"% may be used as a past form of
the &ontinuous conjugation with the auxiliary &ou"%. "he verbs in the following examples are
underlined.
P#ese't *o#+ Past *o#+
I would be waiting outside. I would have been waiting outside.
0e would be helping you. 0e would have been helping you.
In the first example, the !erfect &ontinuous conjugation &ou"% ha2e 1ee' &a!t!'. is used as the
past form of the &ontinuous conjugation &ou"% 1e &a!t!'.. In the second example, the !erfect
&ontinuous conjugation &ou"% ha2e 1ee' he"(!'. is used as the past form of the &ontinuous
conjugation &ou"% 1e he"(!'..
.

3. Su++a#$ of the fo#+at!o' of the ,o'-u.at!o's &!th the au!"!a#$ Wou"%
"he following table summari1es the formation of the conjugations with the auxiliary &ou"%.
Co'-u.at!o' Au!"!a#$ 4e#1 *o#+
#imple would bare infinitive
&ontinuous would be present participle
!erfect would have past participle
!erfect &ontinuous would have been present participle

5. The 6futu#e !' the (ast6
"he modal auxiliary &ou"% is the past form of the modal auxiliary &!"". For this reason, the
auxiliary &ou"% can be used to form what is sometimes called a futu#e !' the (ast.
"he futu#e !' the (ast is used in reporting statements and questions which pertained to the future at
the time they were made. In the following examples, the verbs in the main clauses are printed in
bold type, and the verbs in the subordinate clauses are underlined.
Te'se of 4e#1 !' 7a!' C"ause Co+("ete Se'te',e
#imple !resent I th!'0 you will succeed.
#imple !ast I thou.ht you would succeed.
In the sentence I th!'0 $ou &!"" su,,ee%8 the verb of the main clause, th!'0, is in the #imple
!resent, and the verb of the subordinate clause, &!"" su,,ee%, is in the #imple Future. If the verb
th!'0 is changed to the #imple !ast, then the verb &!"" su,,ee% must also be put into the past, by
using the auxiliary &ou"% instead of &!"".
"he following are other examples of the use of the futu#e !' the (ast%
Te'se of 4e#1 !' 7a!' C"ause Co+("ete Se'te',e
#imple !resent #he sa$s she will visit us next wee$.
#imple !ast #he sa!% she would visit us the following wee$.

#imple !resent "hey 0'o& that we will be arriving tomorrow.
#imple !ast "hey 0'e& that we would be arriving the next day.
In both pairs of examples, when the verb in the main clause is changed from the #imple !resent to
the #imple !ast, the verb in the subordinate clause is changed from a future tense to the futu#e !'
the (ast, by changing the auxiliary &!"" to &ou"%.
It should be noted that adverb and adverb phrases such as to+o##o&, $este#%a$ and 'et $ea# can
be used only with reference to present time. When used with reference to past or future time, as in
reported speech, these adverbs and adverb phrases must be changed.
For instance, to+o##o& must be changed to an expression such as the 'et %a$ or the fo""o&!'.
%a$( and 'et $ea# must be changed to an expression such as the 'et $ea# or the fo""o&!'. $ea#.
2ther examples are given in the table below.
Use% &!th Refe#e',e to P#ese't T!+e Use% &!th Refe#e',e to Past o# *utu#e T!+e
tomorrow the next day o# the following day
today that day o# the same day
yesterday the day before o# the previous day

next wee$ the next wee$ o# the following wee$
this wee$ that wee$ o# the same wee$
last wee$ the wee$ before o# the previous wee$

next year the next year o# the following year
this year that year o# the same year
last year the year before o# the previous year