would

noun

Something that would happen, or would be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality.

verb

Past tense of will; usually followed by a bare infinitive.

Used to form the "anterior future", or "future in the past", indicating a futurity relative to a past time.

A modal verb, the subjunctive of will; usually followed by a bare infinitive.

Used as the auxiliary of the simple conditional modality, indicating a state or action that is conditional on another.

Without explicit condition, or with loose or vague implied condition, indicating a hypothetical or imagined state or action.

Suggesting conditionality or potentiality in order to express a sense of politeness, tentativeness, indirectness, hesitancy, uncertainty, etc.

Used to express what the speaker would do in another person's situation, as a means of giving a suggestion or recommendation.

Used to express the speaker's belief or assumption.

Could naturally be expected to (given the situation, the tendencies of someone's character etc.).

Used interrogatively to express a polite request; are (you) willing to …?

Used to, did repeatedly, habitually; indicates an action that happened several times in the past (cannot describe continuous states, as in I used to live in London)

Was or were determined to; indicating someone's insistence upon doing something.

(archaic) Wanted to.

(obsolete) Wished, desired (something).

(chiefly archaic) Might wish (+ verb in past subjunctive); often used in the first person (with or without that) in the sense of "if only".

(chiefly archaic, transitive or control verb) Might desire; wish (something).

(archaic) Used with ellipsis of the infinitive verb, or postponement to a relative clause, in various senses.

Words related to would

wouldst could couldst should mightn shouldst didv willn hadv wantv probablyadv notadv cann havev if ought cannot theyadj shall mayn mustn hopedv that possiblyadv bev willableadj in belikeadv maybeadv wishedv

Synonyms & related words for would

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Words related to would

Explore words related to would — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include wouldst, could, couldst, should, might, shouldst, did, will. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.