Will and would to talk about habits

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MrPedantic  #275835  Wed, 04 Oct 06 12:13 AM

This structure seems very close to "wildlife documentary will", e.g.

1. Then the tiger will clamp down on the neck, suffocating its victim...After the kill has been made, the tiger will drag the carcass to a thick undergrowth...

MrP

 

  
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...opella forensis / adducit febris...
CalifJim  #275849  Wed, 04 Oct 06 12:45 AM
If you read carefully, you will see that I simply echoed what you had already said, for the most part.  That's why I posted "In addition to ...", not "In disagreement with ...".

I don't see how you can object to this
Without the will the statement is more neutral with respect to such implied predictions.


unless you feel that the statements with will (... will come home ...)  and without will ( ... comes home ...) are equivalent with respect to implied predictions.  But that's not what you claimed earlier.  Your mention that there is a difference coincides with my mention that there is a difference.  We're just quibbling about how big a difference it is.

CJ

  
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milky  #275902  Wed, 04 Oct 06 06:20 AM
 MrPedantic wrote:

This structure seems very close to "wildlife documentary will", e.g.

1. Then the tiger will clamp down on the neck, suffocating its victim...After the kill has been made, the tiger will drag the carcass to a thick undergrowth...

MrP

 

It is indeed. That's called "generic will", I think.

  
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Hume said that if we had perfect or complete descriptive knowledge of reality, we could not, by reasoning, derive a single valid "ought".
milky  #275904  Wed, 04 Oct 06 06:24 AM

<Your mention that there is a difference coincides with my mention that there is a difference.  We're just quibbling about how big a difference it is.>

I feel your "There really isn't a lot of difference." leaves students thinking that they could choose either form and the semantic meaning pragmatic effect will be the same. I disagree in the case of pragmatic effect.

  
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