Timeline for Does "would" indicate intent but not possibility?
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| Dec 2, 2014 at 20:52 | comment | added | Cerberus - Reinstate Monica | @JohnLawler: I'm not sure I would say that. In this question, I think the intent is implicit in asking what someone else might do, not in the word would itself, which I think is epistemic there for most speakers of modern English. Cf. what would you like to drink?: the volition/intent is in the situation, mainly in like, not in the word would. Fowler, to whom would in the first person must still express volition, disapproved of I would like for that very reason, but most speakers say it (rather than Fowler's I should like). | |
| Dec 2, 2014 at 18:52 | review | Low quality posts | |||
| Dec 2, 2014 at 19:12 | |||||
| Dec 2, 2014 at 18:36 | comment | added | John Lawler | That's the deontic sense -- what do you want to do? | |
| Dec 2, 2014 at 18:33 | history | answered | Martin | CC BY-SA 3.0 |