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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Help with confusing ´ ´WOULD ´ ´
Help with confusing ´ ´WOULD ´ ´
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manzura
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Help with confusing ´ ´WOULD ´ ´
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Dear teachers!!! I teach children and grown-ups. Today I have explained Passives to my students. I know that I can`t ask the translation of some expressions because we don`t have the same native language. Anyway my students asked the translation of the sentense ´ ´Jack would send a letter ´ ´ and it`s Passive. Please only explain the meaning of would here. Is it a past tense or future or present or a part ? When can we use it in simple sentenses?
Thank you so much and sorry for taking time.
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20 Feb 2014
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yanogator
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No need to apologize, because that is one of the reasons for the Forum ´s existence. "Jack would send a letter" is not passive, so I don ´t understand that part of your question. Since we don ´t have a context, "would" could be either the simple past or the conditional form of "will". It is more likely that it is conditional. Q: How would Jack communicate with his cousin if he didn ´t have a telephone or the internet? A: Jack would send a letter. An example of the other option is this: When he was younger, Jack would send a letter to his grandmother each week, telling her what he had been up to. I hope this helps you. Bruce |
20 Feb 2014
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mohamedthabet
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Nothing to add to Bruce ´s explanation, except that in his 2nd example would (send) is used to express a habitual action in the past. It replaces used to, and is used only for actions ( not states) which were repeated in the past but now have ceased to happen. |
20 Feb 2014
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yanogator
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Thanks, mohamed. I didn ´t think to add that information. Bruce |
20 Feb 2014
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