Author Topic: Which should we use to convey certainty: “will” or “would”?  (Read 8817 times)

Joe Carillo

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To convey certainty, should writers use “will” or “would”?

And what’s the difference between “I will travel to Washington next weekend” and “I would travel to Washington next weekend”?

These questions raised by two members of Jose Carillo’s English Forum, Miss Mae and Mwita Chacha, are related, so I answered them jointly as follows:

Before attempting to distinguish between “will” and “would,” let me explain first what these two words are and how they work in English. They are auxiliary verbs that belong to a class of grammatical forms called modals, the function of which is to indicate predication of an action or state in some manner other than as a simple fact. Aside from “will” and “would,” of course, the most common modals are “can,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “must,” “should,” “shall,” and “ought to.” Each of them enables main verbs to denote a particular shade of intent, conditionality, or probability.


As we know, the verbal auxiliary “will” works with a main verb to indicate simple futurity of an action, as in “They will leave tomorrow.” On the other hand, the modal “will” basically indicates a willingness to do something in the present, as in “I will sing.” When a speaker or writer uses the modal “will,” it’s a categorical declaration that the action denoted by the main verb will be done. Such declarations can be in the form of quick decisions (“I think I will buy the laptop instead of the desktop”), promises (“I’ll fix that leaking faucet”), offers (“I will campaign for you in the coming election”), and off-the-cuff predictions (“We’ll bet that player won’t make it to first base”).

The modal “would” has many more uses than the modal “will.” Basically, “would” indicates a past or present willingness to do something (“I would do it for her if she asks me”) or a polite request or invitation to someone to do something (“Would you dance with me?”). Other than these uses, the modal “would” is also used when asking permission (“Would I be able to take the day off on Friday?”), when talking about preferences (“I would prefer Paris to Rome”), and when making arrangements (“Would Friday at noon be fine with you?”). And then the modal “would” is also used to talk about imaginary situations (“If I knew her cellphone number, I’d ring her up right now”) and impossible or unlikely situations (“If I had taken that plane, I would be in Hong Kong now).”

Now, as to the difference between “'I will travel to Washington next weekend” and “I would travel to Washington next weekend”: The first sentence that uses “will travel” is grammatically correct, but the second sentence using “would travel” is grammatically faulty. To make its use of the modal “would” valid, that sentence should be reconstructed as a conditional sentence like, say, “If I had the time and money, I would travel to Washington next weekend.”

In a rejoinder, Miss Mae asked: Is there an easier way to remember the difference between the modal “will” and “would”?

Let’s use the very lyrics that she presented from a song:

I will cross the ocean for you
I will go and bring you the moon
I will be your hero and strength
I will be everything you need


All four lines of the lyrics above use the modal “will” to denote categorical declarations that leave no room for uncertainty. Now, if we preface those lyrics with a conditional “if” statement, the modal “will” in each of those lines would need to be replaced by the modal “would”:

If you say you love me too
I would cross the ocean for you
I would go and bring you the moon
I would be your hero and strength
I would be everything you need


The difference between “will” and “would” should now be unforgettable.


This essay, 812th of the series, first appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the October 13, 2012 issue of The Manila Times, © 2012 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
« Last Edit: July 06, 2017, 04:02:32 PM by Joe Carillo »