wouldpast tense and past participle of will: Would you have gone to the game with me if I had asked you to?Not to be confused with:wood ? the hard, fibrous substance of a tree or shrub; the trunks or main stems of trees; timber or lumber: Most furniture is made out of wood. Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embreewould (wo?od) aux.v. Past tense of will2 1. Used to express desire or intent: She said she would meet us at the corner. 2. Used to express a wish. This sense is archaic (“I would you were so honest a man!”?William Shakespeare) except in contexts with an implicit first person singular subject and followed by a clause beginning with that: Would that it stop snowing! 3. Used after a statement of desire, request, or advice: I wish you would stay. 4. Used to make a polite request: Would you go with me? 5. Used in the main clause of a conditional statement to express a possibility or likelihood: If I had enough money, I would buy a car. We would have gone to the beach, had the weather been good. See Usage Note at if.6. Used to express presumption or expectation: That would be Steve at the door. 7. Used to indicate uncertainty: He would seem to be getting better. 8. Used to express repeated or habitual action in the past: Every morning we would walk in the garden. American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.would (w?d; unstressed w?d) vb1. used as an auxiliary to form the past tense or subjunctive mood of will12. (with: you, he, she, it, they, or a noun as subject) used as an auxiliary to indicate willingness or desire in a polite manner: would you help me, please?. 3. used as an auxiliary to describe a past action as being accustomed or habitual: every day we would go for walks. 4. I wish: would that he were here. Usage: See at shouldCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014would (w?d; unstressed w?d) v. 1. a pt. of will 1. 2. (used to express the future in past sentences): He said he would go tomorrow. 3. (used in place of will, to make a statement or form a question less direct or blunt): That would scarcely be fair. Would you be so kind? 4. (used to express repeated or habitual action in the past): We would visit Grandma every morning up at the farm. 5. (used to express an intention or inclination): Nutritionists would have us all eat whole grains. 6. (used to express a wish): Would that she were here! 7. (used to express an uncertainty): It would appear that he is guilty. 8. (used in conditional sentences to express choice or possibility): They would come if they had the fare. If the temperature were higher, the water would evaporate. 9. (used with the present perfect to express unfulfilled intention or preference): I would have saved you some but the children took it all. Idioms: would like, (used to express desire): I would like to go next year. usage: See should. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.would1. form and pronunciationWould is a modal. It is used in a number of different ways.When would comes after a pronoun, it is not usually pronounced in full. When you write down what someone says, you usually represent ‘would’ as ‘d and add it to the end of the pronoun. For example, instead of writing ‘I would like that’, you write ‘I’d like that’.Would has the negative form would not. The not is not usually pronounced in full. When you write down what someone says, you usually write wouldn’t. For example, instead of writing ‘He would not do that’, you write ‘He wouldn’t do that’.You can use would to talk about something that happened regularly in the past but no longer happens.Used to has a similar meaning.However, used to can also be used to talk about states and situations that existed in the past but no longer exist. You cannot use ‘would’ like this. You can say, for example, ‘She used to work there’. Don’t say ‘She would work there’You use would have to talk about actions and events that were possible in the past, although they did not in fact happen.When would not is used to talk about something that happened in the past, it means that someone refused to do something.Would is sometimes used in stories to talk about someone’s thoughts about the future.You use would in a conditional sentence when you are talking about a situation that you know does not exist. Use would in the main clause. In the conditional clause, use the past simple, the past progressive, or could.Be Careful!Don’t use ‘would’ in the conditional clause in sentences like these. Don’t say, for example, ‘If I would have enough money, I would buy the car’.When you are talking about the past, you use would have in a conditional sentence to mention an event that might have happened but did not happen. In this kind of sentence, you use the past perfect in the conditional clause and would have in the main clause.Would is also used in reported clauses.You can use would to make a request.You can also use would to give an order or instruction.You can say ‘Would you…?’ when you are offering something to someone, or making an invitation.