would

would [wʊd]

1. modal verb

   a.

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► When would is used to form the conditional, the French conditional is used.

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• he would do it if you asked him il le ferait si vous le lui demandiez

• I wouldn't worry, if I were you à ta place, je ne m'inquiéterais pas

• I thought you'd want to know j'ai pensé que vous aimeriez le savoir

• I wouldn't have a vase like that in my house je ne voudrais pas d'un vase comme cela chez moi !

• I would never marry in church jamais je ne me marierais à l'église

• to my surprise, he agreed -- I never thought he would à ma grande surprise, il a accepté -- je ne l'aurais jamais pensé

► would have

• he would have done it if you had asked him il l'aurait fait si vous le lui aviez demandé

• who would have thought it? qui l'aurait pensé ?

   b. (indicating willingness) I said I would do it j'ai dit que je le ferais

• I said I'd go, so I'm going j'ai dit que j'irais, alors j'y vais

• I said I'd go, so I went j'avais dit que j'irais, alors j'y suis allé

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► When if you would means if you were willing to, it is translated by the imperfect of vouloir.

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• if you would come with me, I'd go to see him si vous vouliez bien m'accompagner, j'irais le voir

• if you would just listen si vous vouliez bien écouter

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► When wouldn't refers to the past, it is translated by the perfect or imperfect of vouloir.

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• he wouldn't help me il n'a pas voulu m'aider

• the car wouldn't start la voiture ne voulait pas démarrer

► would you (in requests)

would you wait here please! attendez ici s'il vous plaît !

• would you close the window please voulez-vous fermer la fenêtre, s'il vous plaît► would you like ( = do you want)

would you like some tea? voulez-vous du thé ?

• would you like to go for a walk? est-ce que vous aimeriez faire une promenade ?

   c. (past) he would always read the paper before dinner il lisait toujours le journal avant le dîner

• 50 years ago the streets would be empty on Sundays il y a 50 ans, les rues étaient vides le dimanche

• I saw him come out of the shop -- when would this be? je l'ai vu sortir du magasin -- quand ?

   d. (inevitability) you would go and tell her! évidemment tu es allé le lui dire !

• it would have to rain! évidemment il fallait qu'il pleuve !

   e. (conjecture) it would have been about 8 o'clock when he came il devait être 8 heures à peu près quand il est venu

2. modifier

► would-be adjective

• would-be actor aspirant(e) acteur or actrice

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[wʊd, wəd]

Note: When would is used with a verb in English to form the conditional tense, would + verb is translated by the present conditional of the appropriate verb in French and would have + verb by the past conditional of the appropriate verb: I would do it if I had time = je le ferais si j'avais le temps; I would have done it if I had had time = je l'aurais fait si j'avais eu le temps; he said he would fetch the car = il a dit qu'il irait chercher la voiture

For more examples, particular usages and all other uses of would see the entry below

modal auxiliary (aussi 'd; nég wouldn't)

1) (in sequence of past tenses, in reported speech)

she said she wouldn't come — elle a dit qu'elle ne viendrait pas

we thought we would be late — nous avons pensé que nous serions en retard

I was sure you'd like it — j'étais sûr que ça te plairait

they promised that they'd come back — ils ont promis de revenir

he thought she would have forgotten — il pensait qu'elle aurait oublié

I wish he would shut the door! — il pourrait fermer la porte!

I wish you'd be quiet! — tu ne pourrais pas te taire!

2) (in conditional statements)

it would be wonderful if they came — ce serait merveilleux s'ils venaient

if we'd left later we would have missed the train — si nous étions partis plus tard nous aurions raté le train

we wouldn't be happy anywhere else — nous ne serions heureux nulle part ailleurs

who would ever have believed it? — qui l'aurait cru?

you wouldn't have thought it possible! — on n'aurait jamais cru que c'était possible!

wouldn't it be nice if... — ce serait bien si...

it cost far less than I would have expected — ça a coûté beaucoup moins cher que je n'aurais pensé

3) (expressing willingness to act)

do you know anyone who would do it? — est-ce que tu connais quelqu'un qui le ferait?

they couldn't find anyone who would take the job — ils n'arrivaient pas à trouver quelqu'un qui accepte le poste

she just wouldn't listen — elle ne voulait rien entendre

after that I wouldn't eat any canned food — après cela je ne voulais plus manger de conserves

he wouldn't do a thing to help — il n'a rien voulu faire pour aider

the police wouldn't give any further details — la police a refusé de donner plus de détails

they asked me to leave but I wouldn't — ils m'ont demandé de partir mais j'ai refusé

4) (expressing inability to function)

the door wouldn't close — la porte ne voulait pas se fermer

5) (expressing desire, preference)

we would like to stay another night — nous aimerions rester une nuit de plus

we'd really love to see you — nous aimerions vraiment te voir

I would much rather travel alone — je préfèrerais nettement voyager seul

she would have preferred a puppy — elle aurait préféré un chiot

I wouldn't mind another slice of cake — je prendrais bien un autre morceau de gâteau

it's what he would have wanted — c'est ce qu'il aurait voulu

6) (in polite requests or proposals)

would you like something to eat? — voudriez-vous quelque chose à manger?

would you like some more tea? — voulez-vous encore du thé?

would you help me set the table? — est-ce que tu pourrais m'aider à mettre la table?

switch off the radio, would you? — éteins la radio, tu veux bien?

would you like to go to a concert? — est-ce que tu aimerais aller à un concert?

would you give her the message? — est-ce que vous voulez bien lui transmettre le message?

would you mind not smoking please? — est-ce que ça vous ennuierait de ne pas fumer s'il vous plaît?

7) (used to attenuate statements)

it would seem that he was right — il semblerait qu'il avait raison

so it would seem — c'est ce qu'il semble

you would think they'd be satisfied! — on aurait pu penser qu'ils seraient satisfaits!

I wouldn't say that — je ne dirais pas ça

I would have thought it was obvious — j'aurais pensé que c'était évident

I wouldn't know — je ne pourrais pas vous le dire

8) (when giving advice)

I wouldn't do that if I were you — je ne ferais pas ça à ta place

I would check the timetable first — tu ferais bien de vérifier l'horaire d'abord

I'd give her a ring now — tu devrais lui téléphoner maintenant

wouldn't it be better to write? — est-ce que ce ne serait pas mieux d'écrire?

9) (expressing exasperation)

‘he denies it’ - ‘well he would, wouldn't he?’ — ‘il le nie’ - ‘évidemment!’

of course you would contradict him! — bien sûr il a fallu que tu le contredises!

‘she put her foot in it (colloq)’ - ‘she would!’ — ‘elle a mis les pieds dans le plat (colloq)’ - ‘tu m'étonnes!’

10) (expressing an assumption)

what time would that be? — c'était vers quelle heure?

I suppose it would have been about 3 pm — je pense qu'il était à peu près 15 h 00

let's see, that would be his youngest son — voyons, ça doit être son plus jeune fils

it would have been about five years ago — ça devait être il y a environ cinq ans

you'd never have guessed she was German — on n'aurait jamais cru qu'elle était allemande

11) (indicating habitual event or behaviour in past: used to)

she would sit for hours at the window — elle passait des heures assise à la fenêtre

English-French dictionary. 2013.