would

[Shinya Maki]

Hello everyone.



The following passage is a passage from J. Hinds’ “Situation vs. Person Focus”.Recently I took a flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo with a Japanese friend. It was interesting to see how easily the flight attendant could change from Japanese to English when she asked each of us a question. She would say to my friend, "Ocha wa ikaga desu ka?" Then she would say to me, "Would you like some tea?"
While we were still in flight, the flight attendant passed out forms which we were to fill out. When we were close to Tokyo, she came around to see if we had filled the forms out yet. She said to me, "Have you filled out the form yet?" To my friend she said, "Yoroshii desu ka?"


My question:
What use, out of #1 through #7 below, is “would” in the 3rd and 4th sentence above?

1 -- used to express desire, choice, willingness, consent, or in negative constructions refusal <no one would take the job> <if we will all do our best> <will you please stop that racket>
2 -- used to express frequent, customary, or habitual action or natural tendency or disposition <will get angry over nothing> <will work one day and loaf the next>
3 -- used to express futurity <tomorrow morning I will wake up in this first-class hotel suite -- Tennessee Williams>
4 -- used to express capability or sufficiency <the back seat will hold three passengers>
5 -- used to express probability and often equivalent to the simple verb <that will be the milkman>
6 a -- used to express determination, insistence, persistence, or willfulness <I have made up my mind to go and go I will> b -- used to express inevitability <accidents will happen>
7 -- used to express a command, exhortation, or injunction <you will do as I say, at once>

(from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=would (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=would))

Best regards,
Shinya Maki

[Rusty]

Hello everyone.



The following passage is a passage from J. Hinds’ “Situation vs. Person Focus”.Recently I took a flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo with a Japanese friend. It was interesting to see how easily the flight attendant could change from Japanese to English when she asked each of us a question. She would say to my friend, "Ocha wa ikaga desu ka?" Then she would say to me, "Would you like some tea?"
While we were still in flight, the flight attendant passed out forms which we were to fill out. When we were close to Tokyo, she came around to see if we had filled the forms out yet. She said to me, "Have you filled out the form yet?" To my friend she said, "Yoroshii desu ka?"


My question:
What use, out of #1 through #7 below, is “would” in the 3rd and 4th sentence above?

1 -- used to express desire, choice, willingness, consent, or in negative constructions refusal <no one would take the job> <if we will all do our best> <will you please stop that racket>
2 -- used to express frequent, customary, or habitual action or natural tendency or disposition <will get angry over nothing> <will work one day and loaf the next>
3 -- used to express futurity <tomorrow morning I will wake up in this first-class hotel suite -- Tennessee Williams>
4 -- used to express capability or sufficiency <the back seat will hold three passengers>
5 -- used to express probability and often equivalent to the simple verb <that will be the milkman>
6 a -- used to express determination, insistence, persistence, or willfulness <I have made up my mind to go and go I will> b -- used to express inevitability <accidents will happen>
7 -- used to express a command, exhortation, or injunction <you will do as I say, at once>

(from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=would (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=would))

Best regards,
Shinya Maki I choose #2. It was customery for her to speak that way. You have given examples of things that she might normally say. "She would say to my friend.."
Any other ideas?

[danmahaffey]

Hello everyone.



The following passage is a passage from J. Hinds’ “Situation vs. Person Focus”.Recently I took a flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo with a Japanese friend. It was interesting to see how easily the flight attendant could change from Japanese to English when she asked each of us a question. She would say to my friend, "Ocha wa ikaga desu ka?" Then she would say to me, "Would you like some tea?"
While we were still in flight, the flight attendant passed out forms which we were to fill out. When we were close to Tokyo, she came around to see if we had filled the forms out yet. She said to me, "Have you filled out the form yet?" To my friend she said, "Yoroshii desu ka?"


My question:
What use, out of #1 through #7 below, is “would” in the 3rd and 4th sentence above?

1 -- used to express desire, choice, willingness, consent, or in negative constructions refusal <no one would take the job> <if we will all do our best> <will you please stop that racket>
2 -- used to express frequent, customary, or habitual action or natural tendency or disposition <will get angry over nothing> <will work one day and loaf the next>
3 -- used to express futurity <tomorrow morning I will wake up in this first-class hotel suite -- Tennessee Williams>
4 -- used to express capability or sufficiency <the back seat will hold three passengers>
5 -- used to express probability and often equivalent to the simple verb <that will be the milkman>
6 a -- used to express determination, insistence, persistence, or willfulness <I have made up my mind to go and go I will> b -- used to express inevitability <accidents will happen>
7 -- used to express a command, exhortation, or injunction <you will do as I say, at once>

(from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=would (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=would))

Best regards,
Shinya MakiHello, Shinya Maki.
Your answer is in your dictionary, as you suspect, but look to see if your dictionary defines would separate from will. All the definitions you cite are for the word will, and in this case would may not simply be the past tense of will. (Nevermind that for now.)

Would has repeated or habitual action in the past as one meaning. I believe this is the closest meaning to the use in the paragraphs you have given us.

Such a use of would is commonplace among writers who are trying to illustrate how some action would repeat in the past. In this case, our writer uses a few specific examples that by themselves do not repeat. But, in general, actions like the ones illustrated ("how easily the flight attendant could change from Japanese to English") repeat often throughout the flight.

[danmahaffey]

I choose #2. It was customery for her to speak that way. You have given examples of things that she might normally say. "She would say to my friend.."
Any other ideas?Sorry, Rusty, we were writing our answers at the same time. I didn't mean to step on yours. -Dan.

[Rusty]

Sorry, Rusty, we were writing our answers at the same time. I didn't mean to step on yours. -Dan.
That's fine. I think we said the same thing.

[Temico]

Hello everyone.








The following passage is a passage from J. Hinds’ “Situation vs. Person Focus”.Recently I took a flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo with a Japanese friend. It was interesting to see how easily the flight attendant could change from Japanese to English when she asked each of us a question. She would say to my friend, "Ocha wa ikaga desu ka?" Then she would say to me, "Would you like some tea?"
While we were still in flight, the flight attendant passed out forms which we were to fill out. When we were close to Tokyo, she came around to see if we had filled the forms out yet. She said to me, "Have you filled out the form yet?" To my friend she said, "Yoroshii desu ka?"







My question:
What use, out of #1 through #7 below, is “would” in the 3rd and 4th sentence above?

1 -- used to express desire, choice, willingness, consent, or in negative constructions refusal <no one would take the job> <if we will all do our best> <will you please stop that racket>
2 -- used to express frequent, customary, or habitual action or natural tendency or disposition <will get angry over nothing> <will work one day and loaf the next>
3 -- used to express futurity <tomorrow morning I will wake up in this first-class hotel suite -- Tennessee Williams>
4 -- used to express capability or sufficiency <the back seat will hold three passengers>
5 -- used to express probability and often equivalent to the simple verb <that will be the milkman>
6 a -- used to express determination, insistence, persistence, or willfulness <I have made up my mind to go and go I will> b -- used to express inevitability <accidents will happen>
7 -- used to express a command, exhortation, or injunction <you will do as I say, at once>

(from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=would (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=would))

Best regards,
Shinya Maki
It was interesting to see how easily the flight attendant could change from Japanese to English when she asked each of us a question. She would say to my friend, "Ocha wa ikaga desu ka?" Then she would say to me, "Would you like some tea?"
Interesting....
Let's change the tenses in the sentences a little bit and see what happens,
"It will be interesting to see how easily the flight attendant can change from Japanese to English when she asks each of us a question. Will she say to my friend, "Ocha wa ikaga desu ka?" Will she then say to me, "Would you like some tea?"

As you will notice that your two "would's" can be changed to "will" but the last "Would" can not. This is because their usages differ.
The "Would" is ......used to express frequent, customary, or habitual action..... while your two "would's" are .......used to express futurity.