When to use would and when to use could

There are English lexifier creoles in which one can talk about one "tools."

The "'s" is no longer an inflectional morpheme.

Such is the case here, in my opinion.

If one would like to assert the right to have "tense" mean whatever they should like it to mean, then I don't suppose there is much to argue about.

Some modals retain a vestigial association with past or non-past events. These pairs differ in form. The difference in form does not consitute inflection. I can't ignore usage. In English as it exists today, stance is the primary distinction made by modals.

when to use will woulld and could

This is an interesting thread. The question of would and could has lingered in my mind for a long time. I have never found an answer sufficiently explaining the difference between "would be able to" and "could" . The grammar books I have read (ESL grammr) equal the two. I would like to know the distinction between them, when they are synomous, when they are not. Thank you very much.

my father had an old saying on the subject that made sense to me

i would if i could but i can't so i won't

in my understanding would and could are sometimes interchangeable but there is sometimes a subtle difference in that could can indicate an ability to do something but would can indicate a desire to do a thing

i could do it if i wanted

i would do it if i were able

see ya

robert