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Speaker 1: When I was a kid, my friends and I would

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ride our bikes around the neighborhood until it got dark,

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and then we would sit around the kitchen table talking

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about our day. I would like to talk about that more.

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I mean I would if I had more time. Notice

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something interesting there. I use the word would several times,

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and do you know why? A lot of people learn

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that would is just the past form of will or

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some polite word. But in real life, Native speakers use

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wood in several practical ways in everyday conversation. And that's

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what we're going to look at today.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you John In. Thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode one thousand and seven.

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Practical Uses of Wood in everyday English. First of all,

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let's take a quick look at the grammar pattern. As

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a quick review, wood is usually followed by the base

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form of the verb. You can say things like I

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would go, she would say, and they would But instead

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of focusing on grammar rules, it's much more helpful to

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understand when and why we actually use wood in conversation.

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So let's look at some real life situations where Native

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speakers naturally use this word. One common use of wood

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is to talk about things people did raise regularly in

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the past. You'll often hear this when someone is telling

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a story or talking about childhood memories. Like when I

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was a kid, we would play outside until it got dark.

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That means playing outside was something that happened regularly in

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the past. Here's another example. My grandfather would sit on

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the porch every evening and read the newspaper that describes

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something he did again and again. Or maybe someone is

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remembering their school days, like our teacher would always give

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us a short quiz on Monday morning. Using wood in

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situations like this helps create a picture of the past.

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It shows that something was a habit or a repeated action.

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Now you may be thinking, way, isn't this similar to

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used to, Yes, it is, but when you say used to,

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it just sounds like a fact. When I was a kid,

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we used to play outside until it got dark. That's

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a true statement. Or Ed used to smoke. It's a

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fact that Ed smoked cigarettes in the past, but he

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doesn't now. But wood goes beyond stating effect. Wood is

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especially common when people are telling stories and describing repeated

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past actions, like I remember when I was a kid

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in the summer, we would play outside until it got dark.

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Those were great times. You see the difference. We often

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use wood when we're telling a story like this and

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describing what life was like back then, and we use

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used to when we're simply stating a fact about the past.

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Another very practical use of wood is for making polite

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offers or invitations. In English, we often use wood to

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sound softer and more polite. For example, would you like

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some coffee is much more polite than saying do you

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want some more coffee? Here's another example. If you're hosting

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guests at your house, you might say would you like

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something to drink? Or at a restaurant, the server might ask,

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would you like to see the dessert menu? Would helps

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make the question sound friendly and polite instead of direct

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or demanding. This is why wood appears so often in

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customer service restaurants, hotels, and everyday social situations. Another very

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common conversational use of wood is when we want to

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express in a pininion in a softer, less direct way.

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For example, I would say this restaurant is one of

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the best in the neighborhood. That sounds more conversational than

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saying I think this restaurant is one of the best

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in the neighborhood because wood makes it softer. Here's another example.

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If someone asks your opinion about a movie, you might say, yeah,

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I would say it's worth watching. That's a very natural

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way to give your opinion. Or if a friend is

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asking for advice about a trip, I might say something

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like I would recommend visiting Kyoto in the spring. Using

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wood like this makes your opinion sound more thoughtful and

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less forced. And in a similar way, another very practical

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use of wood is when we talk about preferences, especially

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when discussing plans. Like if a friend invites you to

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go out, but you want to stay home, you can

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say something like I would rather stay home tonight, or

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I'd rather watch a movie than go out. Or imagine

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your friends are trying to decide where to eat and

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one person suggests the sports bar. You might say, I'd

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rather go somewhere quiet tonight. I'm not really in the

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mood for a crowded restaurant. Or maybe your coworker suggests

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going to the gym after work, but you're exhausted. You

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might say, honestly, I'd rather just go home and relax tonight.

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And in these situations we usually pronounce I would as

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i'd like, I'd rather take the train, or I'd rather

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stay home. This usage of wood comes up all the

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time when people are making decisions or are discussing plans.

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Another interesting and very conversational use of wood is when

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we talk about someone's tip, behavior or personality. In this case,

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we're not talking about the past. We're talking about what

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someone is likely to do based on the kind of

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person they are. For example, imagine you're working late and

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someone says, maybe the boss won't notice that the report

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isn't finished, and then another coworker replies, knowing the boss,

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he would probably make us stay late to finish it. Anyway.

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In this case, wood shows that the speaker believed that

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behavior is typical for the boss. Here's another example. Maybe

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you're talking about a friend who's always late. Someone might say,

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where's Dave, and then another person replies, oh, he would

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show up late today of all days. That speaker is

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pointing out that this behavior is very typical for Dave

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or imagine someone who always forgets things, like me. You

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might hear a comment like, of course he forgot the tickets.

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He would forget something important like that. In situations like these,

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wood is used to highlight someone's personality or predictable behavior.

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Sometimes it's neutral, but it often carries a little bit

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of humor, frustration, or mild criticism. The last point for

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today is probably the first use of wood that most

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of you learned. That is, we use wood in conditional

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sentences when we talk about imaginary or hypothetical situations. For example,

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if I had more free time, I would travel more,

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or if I won the lottery, I would buy a

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house by the ocean. In these sentences, the situation is

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not real. We're just imagining something, and would helps signal

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that idea. Here's another example. Someone might tell you like

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I would help you, but I'm really busy today. The

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person wants to help, but the situation makes it impossible. Okay,

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let's recap. In everyday English conversation, you can use wood

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for several practical reasons. First, we use wood to talk

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about repeated actions or habits in the past, especially when

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we're telling a story like when we were kids. We

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would ride our bikes around the neighborhood. Second, we use

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wood to make polite offers and invitations. Would you like

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some coffee? Third, we use wood to express opinions in

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a softer way. I would say that's a good idea. Fourth,

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we use wood to talk about preferences. I'd rather stay

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home tonight. Next, we use wood to talk about someone's

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typical behavior. He told you that, Huh yeah, he would

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say things like that when he's angry. And finally, we

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use wood to talk about imaginary or hypothetical situations. If

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I had more time, I would travel more. So instead

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of thinking about complicated grammar rules, it's much easier to

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think about the situations where this word appears naturally in conversation.

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So here's your challenge this week. Try using wood in

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one of these situations. Maybe talk about something you used

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to do in the past, or make a polite offer,

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or give your opinion by saying something like I would

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say that's a good idea. That's how you start making

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grammar part of your natural English. And keep in mind

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the best way to remember English like this and any

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other word or phrase in English is to take that

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word or phrase write it in a sentence that's true

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for you or true in your world, and then memorize

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your sentences. Hey, thanks for listening, and remember learning another

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language is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm

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here to help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit myhappy english dot com. Show your support for Happy

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English by leading us a review. Get English, Get happy,

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