would

[wʊd]
past tense
→ will

would

[wʊd]
modal verb Conjugaison

[speculating, hypothesizing]
I'm sure they would come if you asked them je suis sûr qu'ils viendraient si vous le leur demandiez
I wouldn't do that if I were you je ne ferais pas ça si j'étais vous or à votre place
you would think they had better things to do on pourrait penser qu'ils ont mieux à faire
they wouldn't have come if they'd known ils ne seraient pas venus s'ils avaient su
he wouldn't have finished without your help il n'aurait pas terminé sans votre aide
she would have been 16 by now elle aurait 16 ans maintenant

[making polite offers, requests]
would you please be quiet! voulez-vous vous taire, s'il vous plaît!
would you mind driving me home? est-ce que cela vous dérangerait de me reconduire chez moi?
would you like to see her? aimeriez-vous or voudriez-vous la voir?
would you like another cup? en voulez-vous encore une tasse?
I'll do it for you — would you? je vais m'en occuper — vraiment?

[expressing preferences, desires]
I would prefer to go or I would rather go alone j'aimerais mieux or je préférerais y aller seul
I would have preferred to go or I would rather have gone alone j'aurais mieux aimé or j'aurais préféré y aller seul
I'd as soon not j'aimerais mieux pas
he'd rather or sooner stay at home than go out dancing il aimerait mieux rester or il préférerait rester à la maison qu'aller danser

[indicating willingness, responsiveness - subj: person, mechanism]
they would give their lives for the cause ils donneraient leur vie pour la cause
she wouldn't touch alcohol elle refusait de toucher à l'alcool
I couldn't find anyone who would lend me a torch je n'ai trouvé personne pour me prêter une lampe électrique
the car wouldn't start la voiture ne voulait pas démarrer

[indicating habitual or characteristic behaviour]
he would smoke a cigar after dinner il fumait un cigare après le dîner
they would go and break something! il fallait qu'ils aillent casser quelque chose!
I didn't really enjoy the fish — you wouldn't, would you? je n'ai pas tellement aimé le poisson — ça m'aurait étonné!
he would! c'est bien de lui!
he would say that, wouldn't he il fallait qu'il dise ça

3.	[expressing opinions] I would disagree there je crains de n'être pas d'accord sur ce point I would imagine it's warmer than here j'imagine qu'il fait plus chaud qu'ici I would think he'd be pleased j'aurais cru que ça lui ferait plaisir

4.	[giving advice] I would have a word with her about it(if I were you) moi, je lui en parlerais (à votre place)

5.	[expressing surprise, incredulity] you wouldn't think she was only 15, would you? on ne dirait pas qu'elle n'a que 15 ans, n'est-ce pas? who would have thought it? qui l'aurait cru?

6.	[indicating likelihood, probability] there was a woman there — that would be his wife il y avait une femme — ça devait être sa femme

1.	[in reported speech] it was to be the last time I would see him before he left c'était la dernière fois que je le voyais avant son départ

2.	[used with 'have'] they would have been happy if it hadn't been for the war ils auraient vécu heureux si la guerre n'était pas survenue if you would have told the truth, this would never have happened (US) si tu m'avais dit la vérité, ça ne serait jamais arrivé

3.	(subjunctive use & formal & literary) [expressing wishes] would that it were true! si seulement c'était vrai!