0

I listened to "15 facts about Pierre Cardin". And there's a phrase "but at the age of 8 years old he showed his interest in fashion and design when he would like to dress up the dolls of his neighbour". Why do they use "would like" here? But not "wanted". I used to believe that "would like" is used when we talk about future.

Here you can find the video, where I heard the phrase (00:50) https://youtu.be/FUB6v8UL9oc

3
  • 1
    "Wanted to" might suggest that he wasn't able to – but he did dress up dolls. Similarly, in 1960 I would build Lego castles. It wasn't (then) a wish for the future, but what I actually did. It was a habit. Commented Oct 19, 2022 at 21:05
  • would [+ past participle] is sometimes used in lieu of used to + verb britannica.com/dictionary/eb/qa/….
    – Lambie
    Commented Oct 19, 2022 at 21:44
  • 1
    That utterance is not formal English. You could say when he would dress up dolls (as called the habitual would below) or when he liked to dress up dolls. But not both. Commented Oct 20, 2022 at 2:18

3 Answers 3

3

This is the "habitual would", which typically describes past events. From the British Council:

We can use would to talk about repeated past actions that don't happen any more.

Every Saturday I would go on a long bike ride.
My dad would read me amazing stories every night at bedtime.

would for past habits is slightly more formal than used to. It is often used in stories. We don't normally use the negative or question form of would for past habits. Note that we can't usually use would to talk about past states.

I find it a bit strange that the complementary verb is "like", because I'd think that Cardin habitually "dressed", not habitually "liked". Therefore, I'd probably prefer:

. . . but at the age of 8 years old he showed his interest in fashion and design when he would dress up the dolls of his neighbour . . .

1

Here the use of would indicates a habitual action in the past.

when I was young I went to the store with my father. -> I went (at least) one time, the frequency is not really clear.

when I was young I would go to the store with my father. -> I went regularly or repeatedly.

Similarly here,

when he was young he liked to dress up the dolls of his neighbor -> This was an activity he expressed an interest in at some point (or for some duration) while young; how often or how long he had this interest is not clear.

when he was young he would like to dress up the dolls of his neighbor -> this was an activity he expressed interest in regularly or repeatedly.

0
0

You use would when you are making hypotheses about the future but also when refering to something in the past.

For the actual future you use will.

"Would like" is more polite than want.

Here a reference for further reading

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.