Besides the future-in-past sense in conditional sentences, what other alternative uses can the word would have in conversation?
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May I suggest you buy Swan, Practical English Usage? It's pretty indispensable at your level. It covers very well this subject.– Marius HancuCommented Mar 29, 2015 at 12:41
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Read the OED entry on the verb will.– tchrist ♦Commented Mar 29, 2015 at 13:43
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2 Answers
One application is the "past habitual."
*She would sing in the shower.*
See, e.g.,
The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of ... By Joan Bybee, Revere Perkins, William Pagliuca
or:
English Grammar: A function-based introduction, Volume 1 By T. Givón
Another application is dreaming/imagining in a past time:
Dusting Off the Ashes: One Man's Personal Journey Through ... Maria Heaton M.S., Maria Heaton - 2010
In my dream, I would keep saying to them, “We need to leave the building. It is not good. It's not good.”
answered Mar 29, 2015 at 12:49
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Dose your sentence mean " she used to sing in shower " ? Commented Mar 29, 2015 at 12:57
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What a good question- I would like to know as well!
("Would" is used in expressing the optative mood.)
