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My friend: I am ready to go to any country in the world if there's a treatment.

Me: There's a hospital in the US – they WOULD/WILL be able to treat this.

What's the difference between WOULD BE and WILL BE here? TIA. I know there are a lot of questions about will/would but most of them are about which one's more polite. And I don't think mine has anything to do with politeness.

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They generally mean the same thing, however "would be" implies that it is presumed based on the speaker's understanding, not necessarily acknowledged fact. For example, "would be" has a similar meaning to me as "There's a hospital in the US – I believe that they should be able to treat this." https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/would

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  • So will be is when you're certain that the hospital can treat the deseas?
    – Ashraf
    Commented Jul 1, 2019 at 7:02
  • To my ears, yes, but "would be" has a similar meaning, just less strong.
    – BobtheMagicMoose
    Commented Jul 1, 2019 at 12:29

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