Search results for 'tag:Present tenses tag:Modals' matching tags 'Present tenses' and 'Modals'

Re: is this conditional possible?

CalifJim — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:07:42 GMT

Anonymous
tell me if we could have the modal 'would' after an if-clause in present tense

You will see it and hear it from time to time, but the canonical form is with the if-clause in the past, as Mr. M. has illustrated above.

is this conditional possible?

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:30:30 GMT

Hi,

Please tell me if we could have the modal 'would' after an if-clause in present tense.

If you make some cookies, I should/would be happy/delighted.

reporting on permanent, on-going, or relevant content

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:51:00 GMT

Hi,
1. Would you say if a person is reporting on a content that is permanent, on-going, or relevant in content nature, the reporting word could be both present and past and also, do you feel both present and past tenses are OK in the that-clause?

He said/says his house is/was in Chicago.
He said/says his favorite hobby is/was playing chess.

2. Do you feel all three ar OK? Or just the modal 'would'? I think this deals with intentions and am not sure an intention can be said to be that of on-gong in nature.

His utterance: "I want/will go to the party tomorrow"

He said that he will/would/wants go to that party tommorrow.

3. we are not sure if his house is in Chicago for some reason for a number one exam ple, would you say, what I would call a reporting word should be in present tense?

His utterance: "My house is in Chicago"
He says his house in Chicago at yesterday's party.

Re: Can we replace WOULD by WAS in such a sentence?

Avangi — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:24:09 GMT

Best to wait for the mod[al] squad.

My ear says (who would one day be his second wife) equals (who was one day to be / become his second wife.) That is, would be = was to be.

The use of present tense in your original italicized excerpt makes it sound like the voice-over in a documentary film.

- A.

Re: would

Tuongvan — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 03:07:21 GMT

Thank you very much Grammar Geek,but to be frank ,I'm still confused aout the use of' Would' here.Can we use WILL instead of WOULD in #1 ?and why don't they use WILL in # 2?Similarly your sentence is " If the candidate has such proficiency, it would be preferable .Why not "WILL be preferrable" ?

Normally my grammar books say " If + present tense , WILL +verb .For example :If I am free I will go out . It seems to me WOULD in the original #1 and #2 here refers to something uncertain in the present and future.
Could you help me use the modal WOULD exactly?

Best Wishes

Re: could not or can not

CalifJim — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:35:13 GMT

New2grammar
CJ, how about "I could be wrong" and "It could be anything"? There are not a form of past tense, right? It's about possibility.

"a form of the past tense" doesn't make sense to me. There is only one form of the past tense. I think you mean "a past tense form".

Here are the forms of the modals. (Recall that this does not mean that they are used only in these tenses.)

Present: will, shall, can, may, must

Past: would, should, could, might

So will, shall, can, may, and must are all present tense forms; would, should, could, and might are all past tense forms.

But we must make a distinction between form and use. For example, the past tense form should is almost always used with present tense meaning. In fact, all these past tense forms, in one situation or another, can be used with present tense meaning.

So could in "I could be wrong" or "It could be anything" is also a case of a past tense form used with present tense meaning: "It is possible that I am wrong" or "It is possible that it is anything", respectively. In its role in indicating possibility, could can be replaced by may or might, so equivalents are "I may/might be wrong" and "It may/might be anything", respectively.

Re: hope and sorry

CalifJim — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:15:23 GMT

Anonymous
Can a past tense follow the word 'hope'?
I hope you had a great time at the beach last week.

Yes. That's a frequent combination.

Anonymous
Can a present tense be used after the word 'sorry' eventhough the event for it has not occurred yet?

In some cases this is possible, but not in general. You would typically have some sort of modal verb there.

I'm sorry you are leaving us so soon.

I'm sorry you have to have such a serious operation next month.

I'm sorry you can't attend the party tonight.

Re: modal 'would'

26TMNTJG2PG — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:37:16 GMT

Anonymous
I already told Mark that when he would arrive, we would go out for dinner.

Let us recast the sentence in direct speech, that is, you are speaking to Mark, "When you arrive (simple present tense is most suitable here - I wonder you can use any other tense), we shall/will go out for dinner."

When you turn that into an indirect speech, the sentence will become, " I already told Mark that when he arrived, we would go out for dinner."

Re: functionality of would and could in the present and past

CalifJim — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:37:49 GMT

Are they wrong since the modal usages lack the fundamental conditional uses of the modals 'would' and 'could'? Not sure what you're asking. The correct sequence of tenses applies to conditionals as well as to non-conditionals.

1. We are all watching in a sort of stunned silence waiting to see if we would be asked for money or if we are simply his audience.
No conditional element present, thus 'will' is correct? Right? will is correct, but not for the reason that no conditional element is present. will is correct because will goes with are.

2. While I am reading it, I could not help being concerned about young people in this country.
Same here too. No conditional element present, so 'can' is correct? Right or wrong? Same here. can is correct because it goes with the present tense I am.

So, except those modal uses like politeness for 'would', most modal uses of 'would' and 'could' involve conditional nature. Right or wrong? It depends on the text you're reading. You may find a text that uses would or could in non-conditional contexts quite often.

Could you please answer these? -- case of a modal use for politeness. True.

Generally, will and can go with the present tense; would and could go with the past tense. It doesn't matter whether they are used in a conditional pattern or not.

Henry wants to know where he can find a good restaurant. / Henry wanted to know where he could find a good restaurant.

Kate needs a dress that will make her look slim. / Kate wanted a dress that would make her look slim.

If they sign the contract, they can take possession of the car immediately. / If they signed the contract, they could take possession of the car immediately.

If he hurries, he will arrive on time. / If he hurried, he would arrive on time.

_________________

Occasionally would and could go with the present tense, but these should be regarded as special cases. For example, take the idiom would like to:

I would like to buy the coat which is on sale.

The would and could of politeness are also usually combined with the present tense.

Could you please help me move these books which are lying on the floor?

Re: Follow-up to "Nagging conditional problem"

Mr Wordy — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:23:40 GMT

Anonymous

If you happen to have money (with/on you), could/would you lend me some? [this is more about present -- if the if-clause is in present tense, can we use the modals 'could' and 'would'? Does the phrase 'happen to have' make any difference here?

Should you have money (with/on you), could/would you lend me some? ["chancy" should -- To me, 'should' here is functionally equal to "if", so the sentence could be read:

If you have money (with/on you), could/would you lend me some?

The first sentence means essentially the same as "...can/will you lend me some?", but "could/would" has the effect of "softening" the request -- making it seem less direct. The use of "happen to have" (as opposed to just "have") makes no difference to the point you're asking about.

In the second sentence there is, to me, no tangible difference in meaning between "should" and "if". However, the version with "should" is more formal (or even slightly old-fashioned), and, in my part of the world, is much less likely to be heard in ordinary conversation. (In fact, in real life, I would in this context usually say "If you have any money...".)