If WOULD could be treated like WILL

[Tom]

Hello everybody

I would like to know if would could be treated like will in everyday English.I mean to say in future indefinite tense .Please see below:

1- He would come back in an hour.
(How does it sound?Or would you prefer "will"?)

2- "The bag will break from the bottom."----"No, it
wouldn't." (How does it sound? Or will you
prefer won't ?)

Please answer in detail.

Tom

[Mister Micawber]

.
In detail: no. Wouldn't does not work like will for future.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

He would come back in an hour if he could, but he can't.
(My point: The sentence "He would come back in an hour" simply sounds incomplete.)

The same is true for your second example. You started out with "will" and then changed over to "would" without any reason at all and therefore "No, it wouldn't" also sounds incomplete and wrong. You have to stick with "will" (or "won't") for that kind of a short response to a "will" statement.

As Mr. M. said, the uses and meanings of "will" and "would" are different. What led you to believe that they might be so easily interchangeable?

Amy
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Alan]

Hi Tom,

In the idea of what is going to happen, will is the definite and would is the indefinite.

In these two examples:

He will come

He would come

will refers to the definite in the sense of he is going to come

would refers to the indefinite because it is conditioned by something else and suggests an if is coming in the next sentence.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
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