Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Note: 'Would' is a modal verb. It is used with the base form of a verb. In spoken English, '~' is often abbreviated to '’d'.
1.
You use ~ when you are saying what someone believed, hoped, or expected to happen or be the case.
No one believed he ~ actually kill himself...
Would he always be like this?...
He expressed the hope that on Monday elementary schools ~ be reopened...
A report yesterday that said British unemployment ~ continue to rise...
MODAL
2.
You use ~ when saying what someone intended to do.
The statement added that although there were a number of differing views, these ~ be discussed by both sides...
George decided it was such a rare car that he ~ only use it for a few shows...
MODAL
3.
You use ~ when you are referring to the result or effect of a possible situation.
Ordinarily it ~ be fun to be taken to fabulous restaurants...
It ~ be wrong to suggest that police officers were not annoyed by acts of indecency...
It ~ cost very much more for the four of us to go from Italy.
MODAL
4.
You use ~, or ~ have with a past participle, to indicate that you are assuming or guessing that something is true, because you have good reasons for thinking it.
You ~n’t know him...
His fans ~ already be familiar with Caroline...
It was half seven; her mother ~ be annoyed because he was so late.
MODAL
5.
You use ~ in the main clause of some ‘if’ and ‘unless’ sentences to indicate something you consider to be fairly unlikely to happen.
If only I could get some sleep, I ~ be able to cope...
A policeman ~ not live one year if he obeyed these regulations...
MODAL
6.
You use ~ to say that someone was willing to do something. You use ~ not to indicate that they refused to do something.
They said they ~ give the police their full cooperation...
She indicated that she ~ help her husband...
He ~n’t say where he had picked up the information.
MODAL
7.
You use ~ not to indicate that something did not happen, often in spite of a lot of effort.
He kicked, pushed, and hurled his shoulder at the door. It ~n’t open...
He kept trying to start the car and the battery got flatter and flatter, until it ~n’t turn the engine at all...
MODAL
8.
You use ~, especially with ‘like’, ‘love’, and ‘wish’, when saying that someone wants to do or have a particular thing or wants a particular thing to happen.
Right now, your mom ~ like a cup of coffee...
Ideally, she ~ love to become pregnant again...
He wished it ~ end...
~ rather: see rather
MODAL
9.
You use ~ with ‘if’ clauses in questions when you are asking for permission to do something.
Do you think it ~ be all right if I smoked?...
Mr. Cutler, ~ you mind if I asked a question?
MODAL
10.
You use ~, usually in questions with ‘like’, when you are making a polite offer or invitation.
Would you like a drink?...
Perhaps you ~ like to pay a visit to London.
MODAL politeness
11.
You use ~, usually in questions, when you are politely asking someone to do something.
Would you come in here a moment, please?...
Oh dear, there’s the doorbell. See who it is, ~ you, darling.
= could
MODAL politeness
12.
You say that someone ~ do something when it is typical of them and you are critical of it. You emphasize the word ~ when you use it in this way.
Well, you ~ say that: you’re a man...
MODAL disapproval
13.
You use ~, or sometimes ~ have with a past participle, when you are expressing your opinion about something or seeing if people agree with you, especially when you are uncertain about what you are saying.
I think you’d agree he’s a very respected columnist...
I ~ have thought it a proper job for the Army to fight rebellion...
I ~ imagine she’s quite lonely living on her own.
MODAL vagueness
14.
You use I ~ when you are giving someone advice in an informal way.
If I were you I ~ simply ring your friend’s bell and ask for your bike back...
There could be more unrest, but I ~n’t exaggerate the problems.
MODAL
15.
You use you ~ in negative sentences with verbs such as ‘guess’ and ‘know’ when you want to say that something is not obvious, especially something surprising.
Chris is so full of artistic temperament you’d never think she was the daughter of a banker...
MODAL
16.
You use ~ to talk about something which happened regularly in the past but which no longer happens.
Sunday mornings my mother ~ bake. I’d stand by the fridge and help...
= used to
MODAL
17.
You use ~ have with a past participle when you are saying what was likely to have happened by a particular time.
Within ten weeks of the introduction, 34 million people ~ have been reached by our television commercials.
MODAL
18.
You use ~ have with a past participle when you are referring to the result or effect of a possible event in the past.
My daughter ~ have been 17 this week if she had lived...
If I had known how he felt, I ~ never have let him adopt those children...
MODAL
19.
If you say that someone ~ have liked or preferred something, you mean that they wanted to do it or have it but were unable to.
I ~ have liked a life in politics...
She ~ have liked to ask questions, but he had moved on to another topic...
MODAL