English grammer doubt? Please clarify.
By andyvish
@andyvish (901)
India
July 9, 2008 11:28am CST
It sounds simple. We ofter hear people say "I would like to go to a movie" or "I would like to have a cup of tea" etc.
Is this usage right? How can people use would (which is past of will) with a future tense sentence?
3 responses
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
9 Jul 08
Straight from dictionary.com:
1. a pt. and pp. of will1.
2. (used to express the future in past sentences): He said he would go tomorrow.
From Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary:
modal verb
1 (ALSO 'd) used to refer to future time from the point of view of the past:
He said he would see his brother tomorrow.
They knew there would be trouble unless the report was finished by the next day.
We realised it wouldn't be easy to find another secretary.
2 would have used to refer back to a time in the past from a point of view in the future:
We thought they would have got home by five o'clock, but there was no reply when we phoned.
It's proper to use it the way you described.
1 person likes this
@baileycows (3665)
• United States
9 Jul 08
So what is the future tense of Will? But I think maybe it is used as an adverb here and it makes a difference. I mean how would you ask. It seems right to me, but I am not an English teacher.
1 person likes this
@BYOLA2871 (4371)
• South Africa
10 Jul 08
well sometime s there is this thing they call ppresent past participle in english language its actually part of the use of english i cant really remember how it works as its been very long we were taught this in scholl but i think its correct
