■ would

1) 首先，比较好懂的是：它表示以过去为出发点的将来，相当于 will 的过去式。

• He told me that he would be free in a few minutes.他当时告诉我，他再过几分钟就有空。

2) 但是，would 也可以用于现在，最原本的用意，是表示这件事情并不确实。

• We've never been to a dwarf planet before. What's it like? Is it smooth, like an ice cube, or does it have cracks, which would indicate radioactive or volcanic activity?(Newsweek, September 4, 2006, p.48)我们先前从来没有访问过一个矮行星。它是什么样子的？它是像方冰块那样光滑的呢，还是上面有裂纹？如果有裂纹，就说明了有放射性活动或者火山活动。

由于究竟有没有裂纹，目前还不能断定，所以后面以代表“裂纹”的 which 为主语时，这个主语所代表的事物，究竟存在不存在，还是个未知数，因而这个主语所做的事情，尚不能说是现实世界中发生的事情或存在的情况，这个主语的谓语动词，就不能用直陈的语气（*which indicate... 就意味着 which 代表的事物 cracks 是现实存在的，同前面问有没有 cracks 的问题相互矛盾）。加上助动词 would，就暗示了“这些 cracks 如果有的话”这个不确实性。

• By 5:15 a. m. Wednesday, Democrats had won 228 seats, enough for control, and were leading for another 4, which would give them 232. Republicans, who hold 229 seats in the current House, won 193 and were leading in another 10, which would give them 203. (The Associated Press, Nov. 8, 2006)到了星期三清晨五时一刻，民主党人已经赢了 228 席，已经足够控制众议院，而且还在另外 4 席争夺中领先，加在一起，他们会得到 232 席。目前在众议院控制着 229 席的共和党人，赢得了 193 席，在另外的 10 席中领先，加在一起，他们会得到 203 席（这里的 would 是表示：还有一些席位尚未定归属，所以加在一起的总数是假定的、不确实的）。

3) 既然 would 可以表示不确实性，也就可以借用来表示婉转，不把话说死。这一来，would 就在婉转的话语中大量使用，成了人们在社交中“三句不离”的惯用词（有了缩写体 'd）。有时候简直干脆代替了直接的说法（例如只能说 Would you like...? 不能说 Do you like...?）。

• I'd say it's too late.看来为时已晚。
• I'd have to sit down and think.我需要坐下来想一想。
• Would you type this for me please?请你替我把这个打下来好吗？
• Go and call him, would you?请你去喊他一下行吗？

但是 would 由于既可以表示“实而不虚的婉转肯定”，也可以表示“虚而不实的婉转否定”，所以遇到同样一个 would 时，要小心加以辨别。通常如果说 I would 如何如何，后面没有转折（尤其是 but...），就的确是婉转口气的“我想做某事”；但是如果后面出现转折，这个 would 就是“我本来想做某事（但是由于某种原因不能做）”。

• I'd like to go.我（真的）想去。
• I'd like to go, but I'm really pinched for time.我本来想去，但是时间的确太紧（所以就不能去）。

4) 这样一种不把话说死的语气，无形中包含了一个“假如如何”的条件。因此，I would (I'd) 往往带有“要是我，我就一定如何”的口气。

• I wouldn't worry.要是我，我就不担心（你也不必担心）。
• I would have a word with her about it.要是我，我就一定同她好好谈一谈（你最好同她谈一谈）。

注意：这里没有 like，如果说 I would like to have a word with her about it，就是的确我自己想同她谈一谈了。

用 would 的句子，往往可以把句中的状语成分甚至定语成分作为假定条件。

• Born in better times (= If he had been born in better times), he would have become a great scientist.他假如生而逢辰，本来会成为一位大科学家的。
• A company manager whose judgment was bad (＝If his judgment was bad, a company manager) would very soon get his company into difficulties.一个公司经理，如果判断力差，就会很快使公司困难重重。

尤其是如果主语是假定的，不是实际存在的，中文干脆可以译成“要是”、“如果”的条件句。

• An Englishman would not pronounce the word that way.如果是个英国人，这个单词就不会那样念法（不定冠词 an 加上 would，表示这个“英国人”不是实际存在的）。

5) 由此出发，would 就成了“如果如何如何”就会如何如何中的后一个“如何如何”的助动词（用于条件句中的主句，但是条件状语从句可以出现，也可以是隐含的）。美国英语多用 would，英国英语则常用 should。

• I'd say it's too late.我看为时已晚了（隐含：如果你要问我怎样看的话）。
• He would reject such an offer.这样的建议，他会拒绝的（隐含：如果向他提出这样的建议的话）。

6) would 可以表示过去的习惯，有点类似 used to。

• After lunch he would take a nap.午饭后他通常睡个午觉。
• I remember you would have tea in the afternoon.我还记得您平常下午要喝一次茶。

但是 would 同 used to 有区别。第一，would 后面的不定式动词，只能是瞬时动作动词，而 used to 后面则既可以是瞬时动作动词。

• I used to (would) smoke twenty cigarettes a day.我从前一天抽二十支香烟。

也可以是延续动作或状态的动词。

• He used to (*would) be a pilot before he got married.他结婚前常常当飞行员。

第二，used to 隐含强烈的“只是过去习惯，现在已经不了”的意思，would 虽然也表示“过去习惯”，但是“现在已经不了”的意义不强。第三，would 多用于书面体，used to 多用于口语体。

7) would 作为纯粹意义的助动词，通常不出现在 if 引入的条件状语从句之中（should 则可以，表示可能性进一步缩小成为“万一”）。但是如果 if 是 whether 的意思，不受此限。

• He asked me if (= whether) I would do him a favor.他问我有件事情我愿不愿意帮他忙（这里用 whether 表示两种可能，if 则是单纯的请求）。

另外，如果 would 不作为纯粹的助动词，而是自己有语气上的意义（如“意愿”、“计划”、“打算”），也不受此限。

• They said if I would not make it up with them, they would carry me before a justice.他们说，如果我不肯 (would) 同他们私了，他们就要把我送上法庭。
• If we would fly to New York, we would do it by some chartered flight.我们如果要 (would)飞纽约，就坐包机。
• If the damn Iraqis would just learn English we wouldn't be in this mess... At $8 billion per month in Iraq, you would think we'd have a few more people there who could find their way to the bathroom. (Newsweek, Dec. 18, 2006, p.44)如果那些伊拉克人肯 (would) 学英语，我们就不会遇到这样的麻烦…既然在伊拉克每个月要花掉八百亿美元，你就本来会以为我们在那里应该有更多的人懂得到厕所去的路怎样走。

尤其是动词 like 总要前面有 would。

• Who should I contact if I would like (*I like) to make changes to may existing telephone service?我如果要更改现在的电话设施，该找谁联系？

8) would 可以表示后话。中文也常常有这样的后话，例如《史记·刺客列传·荆轲》就有：“荆卿好读书、击剑，以术说卫元君，卫元君不用。其后秦伐卫，置东郡，徙卫元君之支属于野王。”这里的“其后”就是离开了故事当时发展到的地步，一跳就跳到后来，然后又跳回来，继续说故事（有时候中国章回小说用“此是后话不表”来打发）。这样的插话，英文就用 would 来表示。

• Andrew hesitated but, since he had been living with the situation for so long, reasoned that nothing harmful would happen; therefore he did nothing. Later Andrew would blame himself bitterly for that omission.安德鲁犹豫了一下，但是，他既然同这种局面打交道已经这么久了，他就推测不会出什么有害的事的；于是他就放过去了。安德鲁后来却只好痛苦地责备自己如此疏忽。
• This edition(= a shorter version of War and Peace) constitutes Tolstoy's first attempt at the novel, which he published in 1866 in a Russian literary magazine. Tolstoy would spend another three years revising and enlarging his initial vision, ultimately producing the much longer novel familiar to modern readers. (Newsweek, Oct. 15, 2007, p.81)这一版是托尔斯泰最早动手试图创作这部长篇小说的初稿，于 1866 年发表在一份俄国文学期刊上。托尔斯泰后来又花了三年时间，对初稿进行了修改和扩大，终于产生了现代读者们所熟悉的这部篇幅大得多的长篇小说。

这样的“提前说后话”，除了用 would 之外，还可以用 was/were to inf. 来达到。

• A few years later, he was to lose his entire fortune.几年之后，他就失去了自己的全部家产。
• ... and it was from talking to him that I began to learn the enormous possibilities of the broken enemy cypher. He told me about the failures and successes of the inter-war years, the hopes and possibilities of the future and, one single fact which was to serve me in good stead later, that the only really secure cypher at that time was the one that is used only once. (F. W. Winterbotham, The Ultra Secret, p.24)…正是通过同他交谈，我才开始认识到，破译敌方密码，有多么大的用处。他同我谈到了两次大战之间时期的历次成败以及未来的种种机遇，而且告诉了我一件日后让我受用不尽的事实，那就是，在当时，唯一可靠的密码，就是只用一次的密码。