Speaker 1: When I was a kid, my friends and I would
ride our bikes around the neighborhood until it got dark,
and then we would sit around the kitchen table talking
about our day. I would like to talk about that more.
I mean I would if I had more time. Notice
something interesting there. I use the word would several times,
and do you know why? A lot of people learn
that would is just the past form of will or
some polite word. But in real life, Native speakers use
wood in several practical ways in everyday conversation. And that's
what we're going to look at today.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you John In. Thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode one thousand and seven.
Practical Uses of Wood in everyday English. First of all,
let's take a quick look at the grammar pattern. As
a quick review, wood is usually followed by the base
form of the verb. You can say things like I
would go, she would say, and they would But instead
of focusing on grammar rules, it's much more helpful to
understand when and why we actually use wood in conversation.
So let's look at some real life situations where Native
speakers naturally use this word. One common use of wood
is to talk about things people did raise regularly in
the past. You'll often hear this when someone is telling
a story or talking about childhood memories. Like when I
was a kid, we would play outside until it got dark.
That means playing outside was something that happened regularly in
the past. Here's another example. My grandfather would sit on
the porch every evening and read the newspaper that describes
something he did again and again. Or maybe someone is
remembering their school days, like our teacher would always give
us a short quiz on Monday morning. Using wood in
situations like this helps create a picture of the past.
It shows that something was a habit or a repeated action.
Now you may be thinking, way, isn't this similar to
used to, Yes, it is, but when you say used to,
it just sounds like a fact. When I was a kid,
we used to play outside until it got dark. That's
a true statement. Or Ed used to smoke. It's a
fact that Ed smoked cigarettes in the past, but he
doesn't now. But wood goes beyond stating effect. Wood is
especially common when people are telling stories and describing repeated
past actions, like I remember when I was a kid
in the summer, we would play outside until it got dark.
Those were great times. You see the difference. We often
use wood when we're telling a story like this and
describing what life was like back then, and we use
used to when we're simply stating a fact about the past.
Another very practical use of wood is for making polite
offers or invitations. In English, we often use wood to
sound softer and more polite. For example, would you like
some coffee is much more polite than saying do you
want some more coffee? Here's another example. If you're hosting
guests at your house, you might say would you like
something to drink? Or at a restaurant, the server might ask,
would you like to see the dessert menu? Would helps
make the question sound friendly and polite instead of direct
or demanding. This is why wood appears so often in
customer service restaurants, hotels, and everyday social situations. Another very
common conversational use of wood is when we want to
express in a pininion in a softer, less direct way.
For example, I would say this restaurant is one of
the best in the neighborhood. That sounds more conversational than
saying I think this restaurant is one of the best
in the neighborhood because wood makes it softer. Here's another example.
If someone asks your opinion about a movie, you might say, yeah,
I would say it's worth watching. That's a very natural
way to give your opinion. Or if a friend is
asking for advice about a trip, I might say something
like I would recommend visiting Kyoto in the spring. Using
wood like this makes your opinion sound more thoughtful and
less forced. And in a similar way, another very practical
use of wood is when we talk about preferences, especially
when discussing plans. Like if a friend invites you to
go out, but you want to stay home, you can
say something like I would rather stay home tonight, or
I'd rather watch a movie than go out. Or imagine
your friends are trying to decide where to eat and
one person suggests the sports bar. You might say, I'd
rather go somewhere quiet tonight. I'm not really in the
mood for a crowded restaurant. Or maybe your coworker suggests
going to the gym after work, but you're exhausted. You
might say, honestly, I'd rather just go home and relax tonight.
And in these situations we usually pronounce I would as
i'd like, I'd rather take the train, or I'd rather
stay home. This usage of wood comes up all the
time when people are making decisions or are discussing plans.
Another interesting and very conversational use of wood is when
we talk about someone's tip, behavior or personality. In this case,
we're not talking about the past. We're talking about what
someone is likely to do based on the kind of
person they are. For example, imagine you're working late and
someone says, maybe the boss won't notice that the report
isn't finished, and then another coworker replies, knowing the boss,
he would probably make us stay late to finish it. Anyway.
In this case, wood shows that the speaker believed that
behavior is typical for the boss. Here's another example. Maybe
you're talking about a friend who's always late. Someone might say,
where's Dave, and then another person replies, oh, he would
show up late today of all days. That speaker is
pointing out that this behavior is very typical for Dave
or imagine someone who always forgets things, like me. You
might hear a comment like, of course he forgot the tickets.
He would forget something important like that. In situations like these,
wood is used to highlight someone's personality or predictable behavior.
Sometimes it's neutral, but it often carries a little bit
of humor, frustration, or mild criticism. The last point for
today is probably the first use of wood that most
of you learned. That is, we use wood in conditional
sentences when we talk about imaginary or hypothetical situations. For example,
if I had more free time, I would travel more,
or if I won the lottery, I would buy a
house by the ocean. In these sentences, the situation is
not real. We're just imagining something, and would helps signal
that idea. Here's another example. Someone might tell you like
I would help you, but I'm really busy today. The
person wants to help, but the situation makes it impossible. Okay,
let's recap. In everyday English conversation, you can use wood
for several practical reasons. First, we use wood to talk
about repeated actions or habits in the past, especially when
we're telling a story like when we were kids. We
would ride our bikes around the neighborhood. Second, we use
wood to make polite offers and invitations. Would you like
some coffee? Third, we use wood to express opinions in
a softer way. I would say that's a good idea. Fourth,
we use wood to talk about preferences. I'd rather stay
home tonight. Next, we use wood to talk about someone's
typical behavior. He told you that, Huh yeah, he would
say things like that when he's angry. And finally, we
use wood to talk about imaginary or hypothetical situations. If
I had more time, I would travel more. So instead
of thinking about complicated grammar rules, it's much easier to
think about the situations where this word appears naturally in conversation.
So here's your challenge this week. Try using wood in
one of these situations. Maybe talk about something you used
to do in the past, or make a polite offer,
or give your opinion by saying something like I would
say that's a good idea. That's how you start making
grammar part of your natural English. And keep in mind
the best way to remember English like this and any
other word or phrase in English is to take that
word or phrase write it in a sentence that's true
for you or true in your world, and then memorize
your sentences. Hey, thanks for listening, and remember learning another
language is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm
here to help you on your journey.
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