Unit 14 Level 3 (Upper intermediate - Advanced): Would

As you may know, “would” can be used both as an auxiliary and a modal verb. As a modal, “would” is used to describe regular events and actions in the past which are now finished. Thus, its meaning is basically the same as that of “used to”, except for those sentences in which we talk about past states, where only “used to” is possible. Compare:

• When I was at school, I used to play basketball every Sunday.


• When I was at school, I would play basketball every Sunday.

Both sentences are grammatically correct. But:

• I used to live in Spain.


• I would live in Spain

1) The following video will shed some light on this:

Vídeo 1.

Apart from this, “would” is also used to talk about “future in the past”, that is, as the past tense of “will”, in sentences like “She said (in the past) that she would help me (in the future) or in reported speech:

Vídeo 2


2) Time to practice!

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Exercise 5


3)Use the sentences from the above exercises and videos to practice with your language exchange. Remember: If you don't have a language exchange (or a teacher) you're wasting your time, you'll never learn to speak English.


4) Let's learn some vocabulary: opinions and personal feelings & Idioms and expressions with “heart”. Remember: Always use http://www.howjsay.com/ to hear the sound of the new words you're learning.


5) Listen and read this story. You should learn all the vocabulary and practice pronunciation. And, for the most daring, read this article from The Economist.


6) Finally, write a story of about 200/250 words using sentences with would. Suggestion: Ask your language exchange to write a similar story in Spanish and then correct each other's writings. You can use examples from the videos and exercises above.

If you have done all the exercises, then you've scored a 10! Congratulations! Imprimir