Thursday, July 6, 2017

modal verbs - Difference between "would" and "will" when talking about the future


Which option should I use here:





  1. I often think about a big ideal house in the suburbs I will live in without noisy neighbours to disturb me.




  2. I often think about a big ideal house in the suburbs I would live in without noisy neighbours to disturb me.






And why?


Personally, I chose "will", but in the answers there is "would".



Answer



This is a tricky one. We use will when describing the actual future:



I'm getting married next month! We'll live in a big house in the suburbs with no neighbors and […]



We also use it after verbs like want and hope, that describe a desired future that we hope will become real:




I want to live in a big house in the suburbs where I won't have noisy neighbors.
I hope the house we buy is a big one in the suburbs where we won't have noisy neighbors.



But we don't use it when we're describing a hypothetical future that we don't expect to become real, even if we would theoretically like it:



My ideal house would be a big house in the suburbs, where I wouldn't (or didn't) have noisy neighbors.



Your example falls into the latter category.


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