Before attempting to make a distinction between the usage of “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. Modals allow main verbs to be used in denoting various shades of conditionality; in other words, they make it possible for verbs to be used in the fine art of calibrated affirmation and negation.
The modals “will” and “would” are just two of the ten most common English modals, which also count among their ranks the modal auxiliaries “can,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “must,” “should,” “shall,” and “ought to.” I have described only the most basic usage of these modals in my book
English Plain and Simple: No-Nonsense Ways to Learn Today’s Global Language; now I must hasten to add that this basic usage is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. In practice, these modals actually have such a vast multiplicity of usage that can very well take a whole grammar book to describe and explain.
At this time, however, we’ll focus only on the difference between the modals “will” and “would” to answer your immediate question about them. As we know, of course, the plain verb auxiliary “will” works with a main verb to indicate the 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,” a categorical declaration is made that the action denoted by the main verb will be done. Such categorical 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 for the speaker or writer (“
Would you dance with me?” “
Would you care for a cup of tea?). 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 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).”
There are actually so many more aspects of the modal “would” that we need to learn before we can fully master its usage. The most comprehensive and exhaustive discussion of its usage that I have come across is that of
The MacMillan Dictionary, which separately discusses both the American English and the British English usage of “would.” For
MacMillan’s American English definition and usage,
click this link; and for the British English definition and usage,
click this other link. I’m sure that when you’re done reading these discussions of the modal “would,” you’d have become much more confident in using it in your writing and in your spoken conversations.
Go for those readings on “would” now!
P.S. As to Mwita Chacha’s question on the difference between “'I will travel to Washington next weekend” and “I would travel to Washington next weekend,” I’d like to make this observation:
The first sentence that uses the verb auxiliary “will travel” is grammatically correct, but the second sentence 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.” I must say that this distinction is actually very illustrative of the distinction between the usage of the verb auxiliary “will” and that of the modal “would.”
