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The modal auxiliary would has several different uses. One of
them
is in making a kind of "artificial past" for will in indirect
(reported) speech. (In indirect speech, the tense of the verb
in
a quoted sentence is controlled by the tense of the main verb.
If the main verb is past, as it often is in indirect
speech, will
changes to would because of the influence of the main verb.)
The negative
of would is would not (which is frequently
contracted to
wouldn't).
Examples:
| direct speech |
|
indirect speech |
|
Marķa said, "Will you
help me?"
Pedro replied, "I will
if I have time."
|
|
Marķa asked Pedro if
he would help her.
Pedro replied that he would
if he had time.
|
|
|
|
|
Marķa said, "I
won't
need very much of
your time."
Pedro then asked,
"How
much time will
you need?"
|
|
Then Marķa told Pedro
that she wouldn't need
very much of
his time.
Pedro responded by
asking
Marķa how much
time she would need.
|
| |
|
|
|
Marķa answered,
"I won't need more
than 10
minutes."
Pedro said, "If you
need only 10 minutes,
I'll be able to
help you
right away."
|
|
Marķa told Pedro that
she
wouldn't need more than
10
minutes.
Pedro replied by saying
that if Marķa needed only
10
minutes, he would be
able to help her
right away.
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