English Grammar - "Would" in the past

Hey guys, it's Alex again.

Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this advanced lesson on "would."

Now, you might be thinking, "Well, I know 'would.'

I always use 'would' in conditionals.

For example, if I were taller, I would play basketball.

I'm not tall, but if I were taller, this is something I would do."

Okay.

Now, as we mentioned, this is using "would" in the classic conditional sense.

However, you can use "would" in another way.

You can actually use it in this way.

So this sentence says, "When I was on the school soccer team, I would score at least

one goal per game."

So what do you think the meaning of this sentence is?

Well, when you look at it, this seems like something you did in the past, right?

So "When I was on the school soccer team," in the past, "I would score at least one

goal per game."

It's a habit, something that you used to do in the past.

And you heard me use the word "used to," which "would" is actually very close to.

So you can also use "would" in the same way that you can use "used to" when you're

talking about past habits and when you're talking about things you used to do over a

period of time and that you did regularly, that were common for you in the past.

So this expression, this use of "would" is used for past habits that happened over

a period of time.

Now you might be thinking, "Well, why can't I just use 'used to'?

I'm comfortable with 'used to,' it's familiar to me, I've studied it at the intermediate

level of English, and I get it, finally, I am used to 'used to.'

Why are you introducing 'would'?"

Well, "would" is actually added for variety, I mean, it's kind of boring if you're using

a sentence and you're telling a story about your past, and all you're saying is "I

used to, I used to, I used to, I used to, I used to."

So "would" gives you another option.

For example, in this example, "When I was on the school soccer team, I would score at

least one goal per game."

Yes, you could use "used to."

Let's think about other things you did when you were in high school.

Let's pretend this soccer team was in high school.

So when you were in high school, what did you used to do?

Tell me about one day in your routine.

So you could say, "Well, I remember when I was in high school.

I would wake up at 7 a.m., after that I would take a shower, then, oh yeah, I always used

to go to the coffee shop to pick up a cup of coffee before I went to school.

Then we would study for five hours, after school we would go to the library, and after

the library we would go home and eat dinner."

So "would" gives you that other option.

You can mix it in with "used to" as well.

Now, the only difference, and this is a big one, is that "would" can only be used to

talk about past actions, things you did, things you physically can see or do.

"Used to," it can be used for that as well, but it actually has more functions.

So "used to," I'm going to tell you about that in a moment.

Okay, so as we mentioned, there are some situations where "used to" and "would"

are interchangeable.

However, there are some situations where you have to use "used to" and you cannot

use "would."

So I have four sentences on the board, and let me know if I can also use "would"

in these situations.

The first sentence, "I used to visit my sister twice a week."

Can I say, "I would visit my sister twice a week," if I'm talking about a past

habit, something that happened over a period of time?

Yes, absolutely.

This is an action that I did back in the past, so something that I did regularly.

Maybe when I was in college, I used to visit my sister twice a week.

I can also say, "Yeah, yeah, we used to be really close.

I remember I would visit her twice a week."

However, in the second example, can we use "would" in this situation?

"I used to be a doctor."

Can I say, "I would be a doctor" in the past?

No, because that sounds like a conditional statement and not something that refers to

a past habit that happened over a period of time.

So, "I used to be a doctor," the verb "be" is a stative verb, so you can only

use "used to" and not "would" if you're talking about past states.

This is a past state.

You were a doctor.

You are not a doctor anymore.

That was your state.

So in this situation, if you have another example like, "I used to be happy," or

"I used to be depressed," or "I used to be a lawyer," okay?

Something that existed as a state for you, you can only use "used to."

You cannot say "would" in that situation, okay?

This one, "I used to live in Peru."

Then you say, "I would live in Peru."

In a conditional statement, yes, okay?

So for example, "If I had to live anywhere in South America, I would live in Peru."

No disrespect to Brazil, Venezuela, all wonderful places, but that's a condition.

In this case, if you're talking about a past habit or something that existed in the

past and is no longer true, you can only use "used to."

Why?

Because here we're talking about a location, okay?

So this refers to a location.

You cannot use "would" in this case.

And the last one, "I used to have a hamster."

You used to own a hamster.

Maybe your pet hamster passed away and is now buried in your backyard.

You don't have him anymore.

So when we're talking about ownership or possession, we can only use "used to."

You cannot say, "I would have a hamster" in the past.

Okay, so just to review, you can use "would" and "used to" to talk about past actions

that you did regularly over a period of time, but that are no longer true.

However, you cannot use "would" and "used to" interchangeably in these three situations.

If you are talking about a past state, a past location that you used to live in, or a past

ownership, something you used to have, you cannot use "would."

You must use "used to."

Okay, if you want to test your knowledge of "would" and comparing it to "used to," check

out the quiz on www.engvid.com.

Good luck, and take care.