# grammar: will/would
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 8, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734 "2004-12-08T13:31:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/1 "2004-12-08T13:31:10Z")
argh. back to school…
"I would like some peace and quiet around the house. Therefore I will appreciate it if you will just turn the volume down. Please. "
is this correct? it looks as if ‘will’ and ‘would’ is interchangeable the more i stare at it… ☹
"How much oil would we have if we drilled off the California&Florida coasts plus… "
“Would I run into any restrictions giving my kid an obscene name? (US)”
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/2 "2004-12-08T13:54:01Z")
“Would” is used in the conditional and subjunctive cases. “Will” is plain future.
How much oil **would** we have **if** we drilled…
but
How much oil **will** we have **when** we drill…
“I would like” is a curious one, I don’t think it’s really subjunctive; it’s more of an idiom on its own. But if you say “I would like” then you need to match it with “I would appreciate” in the example you gave. So maybe it is subjunctive, after all…
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/3 "2004-12-08T13:56:56Z")
And that second “will” also needs to be a “would”:
“I would like some peace and quiet around the house. Therefore I would appreciate it if you would just turn the volume down.”
And, strictly speaking, you should say “I should like” rather than “I would like”. But that’s just picky (and probably only valid in British English).
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### Author:  [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/4 "2004-12-08T15:30:40Z")
“Would” and “will” are both called _modal verbs_. They represent varying degrees of certainty about the future.
“Will” is the base verb, and is used to create the future tense; I suggest that all but the most expert writers use it **only** for the future tense.
“Would” is, indeed, the subjunctive of “will,” as well as its past tense, but has taken on a life of its own to some extent. It is used to address events in the future that only might happen, that one wants to happen, or that are dependent on something else happening.
It is also used to creat the…er, future past tense (?): “I asked Tom to fix my fence, and he said that he would.” Tom actually said “I will,” but we are relating the conversation after the fact, so we use “would.”
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/5 "2004-12-08T15:35:51Z")
There’s three conditionals in English: The first, second, and third. (Well, there’s also a “zero conditional,” but let’s leave that out of this discussion.)
They are formed in the following manner:
First conditional (If + present, will+infinitive\*)
If I win the race, I will throw a party.
Second conditional (If+past, would+infinitive\*)
If I won the race, I would throw a party.
Third conditional (If+past perfect, would have+past participle)
If I had won the race, I would have thrown a party.
\*this is an infinitive without the “to”
In general, the first conditional refers to conditions which are possible, the second refers to improbably or impossible situations, the third refers to situations contrary to what actually occurred.
Theoretically, you should be using the first conditional for your sentence, as would/will is rarely used in the if-clause:_Therefore I would appreciate it if you just turn the volume down._
**HOWEVER** in polite requests, you can leave in the would/will.
_Therefor I would appreciate it if you would just turn the volume down._
So there you go.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/6 "2004-12-08T15:37:32Z")
One more thing:
You can use will as well:
_Therefore, I will appreciate it if you’ll just turn the volume down._
This form sounds a bit more emphatic to me than the “would” form.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/7 "2004-12-08T16:41:32Z")
While all youse grammarians are here, could somebody explain the difference between “may” and “might” (as in “Somebody may/might answer this here question”)?
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### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/8 "2004-12-08T17:00:32Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#):
>
> While all youse grammarians are here, could somebody explain the difference between “may” and “might” (as in “Somebody may/might answer this here question”)?
While both are used in situations where there is some doubt, “may” connotes less doubt than “might.”
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### Author:  [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/9 "2004-12-08T17:33:32Z")
colour me 😕
> [@Colophon](#):
>
> … And that second “will” also needs to be a “would” …
why?
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> … First conditional (If + present, will+infinitive\*)
> If I win the race, I will throw a party. …
isn’t the first conditional “If + present, will+infinitive\*”? why use “would” instead of “will”?
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> … You can use will as well: … This form sounds a bit more emphatic to me than the “would” form. …
so it’s ok to use both? that they mean the same thing except one is more emphatic?
“Therefore I \_\_\_\_\_ appreciate it if you \_\_\_\_\_ just turn the volume down.”
so either will+will or would+would would(will??) be ok? why can’t we mix?
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/10 "2004-12-08T17:34:48Z")
Well… I was taught that you should only use “may” when the intended sense is permission; otherwise you should use “might”.
“If you eat the entire cake, you might throw up” is a warning; “If you eat the entire cake, you may throw up” is granting permission to barf 😉
I guess it’s because everybody now uses “can” instead of “may” when asking/granting permission, so the meaning of “may” has shifted onto that of “might”.
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/11 "2004-12-08T17:42:43Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> _Therefore, I will appreciate it if you’ll just turn the volume down._
>
> This form sounds a bit more emphatic to me than the “would” form.
Maybe it’s an American vs. British thing, but that just sounds wrong to me. Will - when, or would - if. Not mixed.
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/12 "2004-12-08T17:43:42Z")
> [@shijinn](#):
>
> colour me 😕
> why?
> isn’t the first conditional “If + present, will+infinitive\*”? why use “would” instead of “will”? so it’s ok to use both? that they mean the same thing except one is more emphatic?
>
> “Therefore I \_\_\_\_\_ appreciate it if you \_\_\_\_\_ just turn the volume down.”
> so either will+will or would+would would(will??) be ok? why can’t we mix?
It looks more like the second conditional to me - it is akin to “If I **won** the race, I **would** throw a party.” - although I must admit these terms are new to me.
I **would** appreciate it… is surely akin to “If I won” rather than “If I win”, as it is the past tense of “will” (although used as a conditional).
However, I think you could safely leave out the second “would”, thus:
“I would appreciate it if you just turned the volume down.”
That reads better, to me - but don’t ask me what tense it’s in 😉
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/13 "2004-12-08T17:47:41Z")
> [@](#):
>
> “I would appreciate it if you just turned the volume down.”
Or, of course:
SHUT THE \*\*\*\* UP!!!
[sub]Conciseness is next to godliness…[/sub]
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### Author:  [@jgroub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jgroub)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/14 "2004-12-08T18:04:56Z")
Sorry for the hijack, but how does the phrase “that would be me” fit in? As in:
“Who ordered the pizza?”
“That would be me.”
Where did this come from? Why not just say “That’s me.”?
And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/15 "2004-12-08T18:22:45Z")
> [@shijinn](#):
>
> colour me 😕
> why?
> isn’t the first conditional “If + present, will+infinitive\*”? why use “would” instead of “will”? so it’s ok to use both? that they mean the same thing except one is more emphatic?
>
> “Therefore I \_\_\_\_\_ appreciate it if you \_\_\_\_\_ just turn the volume down.”
> so either will+will or would+would would(will??) be ok? why can’t we mix?
My bad. I’m actually using the second conditional in that example, not the first.
Anyhow, **jjiimm** , maybe it is an American thing, but checking my textbooks, they allow the following construction:
_If you will go through that door, the supervisor will see you now._
I honestly don’t know whether it’s a matter of emphasis or not for the statement in the OP. Personally, I’d say “I’d appreciate it if you’d just turn the volume down.” But I can’t see any reason to say “Therefore I’ll appreciate it if you’ll just turn the volume down” is incorrect. I’m almost certain it’s fine.
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/16 "2004-12-08T18:27:26Z")
> [@jgroub](#):
>
> Sorry for the hijack, but how does the phrase “that would be me” fit in? As in:
>
> “Who ordered the pizza?”
>
> “That would be me.”
>
> Where did this come from? Why not just say “That’s me.”?
>
> And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Probably just a hypercorrection - people seem to be afraid of “getting it wrong” when talking about themselves, hence the prevalence of “myself” instead of me.
“This will be actioned by myself” = “I’ll do it!”, in the world of business. :rolleyes:
“Talk to either Bob or myself” - presumably because people have been told “Bob and me” is wrong (as in “Bob and me went to New York”) so they get a mental block over it.
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### Author:  [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-will-would/278734/17 "2004-12-08T18:47:58Z")
> [@Colophon](#):
>
> Or, of course:
>
> SHUT THE \*\*\*\* UP!!!
>
> [sub]Conciseness is next to godliness…[/sub]
thanks **Colophon** 😃