Timeline for "would always" in the main clause with present simple in conditional
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 15, 2020 at 7:40 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
Commonmark migration
|
|
| May 15, 2016 at 18:37 | comment | added | tchrist♦ | Related. | |
| Mar 4, 2016 at 9:39 | answer | added | Barid Baran Acharya | timeline score: 1 | |
| Feb 29, 2016 at 4:47 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackEnglish/status/704166173638791168 | ||
| Feb 19, 2016 at 12:46 | comment | added | Choksy | @TimRomano Ok, I've found this example for "would" expressing habits in present. Would can express annoying habits which are typical of a person: "Tom would do something like that, wouldn't he? It's so typical of him!" This example also implies conditional meaning: Tom would do that (if he had an opportunity). And it explains why we use "would" for present. But it is said that it express criticism (annoying habit), obviously it is not the case for my examples. So does "would" add any connototation or it means exactly the same thing that regular zero conditional mean? | |
| Feb 19, 2016 at 12:27 | history | edited | Choksy | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 178 characters in body
|
| Feb 19, 2016 at 12:21 | comment | added | TimR | Not necessarily in the past. "It is my custom to do x". The meaning is not restricted to the past. Tendencies, inclinations, dispositions, etc. | |
| Feb 19, 2016 at 12:21 | comment | added | Choksy | @TimRomano Yes, I know about this meaning of "would" for expressing habits in past, but it seems to me that it is not the case here, because in these examples we speak about present. | |
| Feb 19, 2016 at 12:19 | comment | added | TimR | Your first examples use "if" to mean "when" or "in those situations where". | |
| Feb 19, 2016 at 12:13 | comment | added | TimR | It is a modal auxiliary that conveys the idea of the customary, the reasonable, the appropriate, etc. With "if" there is also the sense of some contingency. | |
| Feb 19, 2016 at 10:30 | answer | added | Sakatox | timeline score: 0 | |
| Feb 19, 2016 at 9:30 | history | asked | Choksy | CC BY-SA 3.0 |