Uses of I'd

[Demice]

Hiz
m confusing that whether I'd is used as "I would" or "I had" ??
will someone guide me in this regard?
thnx

[Alan]

Hi,

Incidentally where did you find 'Hiz' ? The way to find whether 'I'd' means 'I had' or 'I would' is to look at the form of the verb that follows.

1) I'd tried (past participle) several times to find the answer = I had tried several times to find the answer.

2) I'd try (infinitive) to look the word up in the dictionary = I would try to look the word up in the dictionary.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story A day in the life of a policeman

[Yankee]

Hi demice, and welcome to the site.

The only way to know whether I'd means 'I had' or 'I would' is from the context in the sentence. For example, after the word 'would', you can use an infinitive, but not a participle:

- I'd give you some money if I could, but right now I don't have any to spare.
I'd = I would

After the word 'had', you can use the past participle, but not an infinitive (base form of the verb):

- I'd given him money before, and he'd never paid me back. So when he asked me for money again today, I just said no.
I'd = I had / he'd = he had
.