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I have asked many questions about "would" both in ELL and ELU. But I still have a question about the use of "would". I have recently asked a question which @Jay also answered. He used "wouldn't" in the following sentences: 1. Here, you wouldn't say, "May I ask you what is your name?" Though we break this rule for questions sometimes 2. Well, someone might say that in informal speech, but you wouldn't write it or use it in formal speech. 3. "May I ask you what's your name?" is awkward; a fluent speaker wouldn't say that.

I had asked Use and meaning of "wouldn't" in "you wouldn't" and "a speaker wouldn't" question in ELL and I have received answers for it. But there is one thing that I'm still confused about.

Do the meanings of the sentences above change if we use 'won't' instead of using 'wouldn't' ? can we use 'won't' in the place of 'wouldn't' without changing the meanings of the sentences above?

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yubraj
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    Possible duplicate of won't instead of using' wouldn't' is possible? – Alan Carmack Aug 21 '16 at 18:55
  • The other question is already being closed as a duplicate of this one - so I'm going to vote to leave this open. – ColleenV Aug 21 '16 at 19:35
  • @ColleenV I'm very confused now! Both have 4 close votes. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Aug 21 '16 at 20:30
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    @P.E.Dant I flagged it for a moderator to untangle. We wouldn't want to accidentally tear a hole in the SE continuum :) – ColleenV Aug 21 '16 at 20:31
  • @P.E Dent,could you please tell me why you have used 'wouldn't' here in your comment instead of don't? – yubraj Sep 22 '16 at 06:22
  • Actually, the comment's author is @ColleenV, and I don't dare to speak for a moderator (even when I voted for her!) If you will look at the last part of my answer below, though, it may be clear. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Sep 22 '16 at 06:26
  • @collen v,could you please tell me why you have used 'wouldn't' here in your comment instead of don't? – yubraj Sep 22 '16 at 06:28
  • That might make a good question on it's own, because it's a pattern I use as a native speaker that I don't really know why I prefer one over the other for certain situations. You could use don't there but it wouldn't have the same meaning. "We don't want that" is for more certain/realistic consequences. "We wouldn't want that" is for more imaginary situations, I think. It might be an example of a mixed conditional where I dropped the conditional part. "I flagged it because we wouldn't want to rip a hole in the continuum.". I'm not certain though. – ColleenV Sep 22 '16 at 11:25
  • I think @P.E.Dant 's answer explains won't quite well, but I have said both "...and we don't want that" and "...and we wouldn't want that" with equal emphasis, so I don't think it exactly the same question. – ColleenV Sep 22 '16 at 11:31
  • @collen v,I think i would be abe to know the the meaning of wouldn't want if I knew the meaning of "tear a hole in the continnum".However, If i were to guess its meaning I would say that your were imagining the act of tearing a hole in the SE continnum so you don't want it to happen in the future. In that sense, you might have used "We wouldn't want that" which might refer that you wouldn't want to happen in the future.Am i correct here ? – yubraj Sep 22 '16 at 13:10
  • Ripping a hole in the space-time continuum is a joke (I replaced space-time with SE for StackExchange). It means that some action has consequences so dire that it could change the physical reality of our universe. If you saw the movie Ghostbusters, it's similar to crossing the beams, and sometimes that expression is used the same way. I thought it fit because closing a question as a duplicate of a question that has been closed as a duplicate of the one you're closing makes no sense and if it happened maybe it would cause serious trouble. I exaggerated to make a small joke. – ColleenV Sep 22 '16 at 16:30

1 Answers1

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Wouldn't and won't are not interchangeable in your three sentences. The meanings of the sentences are different depending upon which form of the verb is used.

If wouldn't is replaced by won't in the first sentence, we have:

  1. Here, you won't say, "May I ask you what is your name?"

Won't (a contraction of will not, the present tense of the verb will with the negative adverb) describes the future from the viewpoint of that future; it describes the future as "its own present." Wouldn't (a contraction of would not, the past tense of the verb will with the negative adverb) describes the future as if viewed from a time further ahead of the present than that future; it describes the future as "its own past."

It is always important to remember that even when the verb will is used as a modal or auxiliary verb, it is not merely a neutral word which places the action in the future. Every use of the verb will also partakes of its original meaning of wish for or want. Thus, wouldn't in your first sentence gives it the meaning:

Looking back at your words as if you had already spoken them, you wish you had not said "May I ask you what is your name?"

This expresses a strong preference for not using those words.

Replacing wouldn't with won't gives the sentence this meaning:

Looking at your words as if you are in the future and speaking them, you do not say "May I ask you what is your name?"

This merely states that, in the future, you do not use those words, with no sense of preference.

The meaning of will as to desire, wish is strong when the past tense would is used, and especially when in the negative as in your sentences. The construction You wouldn't +[bare infinitive] or You wouldn't want +[infinitive] is often used in English to suggest, emphatically, a negative desire or preference:

You wouldn't eat dirt!
You wouldn't want to get a speeding ticket!
‘But you wouldn’t want to read a whole book of text speak,’ I said. (Source)

P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica
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  • +1! Good stuff! Hope this help OP with his or her problems on modality once and for all. :) – Kinzle B Aug 22 '16 at 07:45
  • @PE Dent,what do you think of the answer given by SLC in http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/101025/use-and-meaning-of-wouldnt-in-you-wouldnt-and-a-speaker-wouldnt ? – yubraj Aug 22 '16 at 14:37
  • @yubrajsharma I don't think it's completely accurate. His analysis does not explain why we use the past tense of will in this way. He doesn't address the difference in time perspective at all. He focusses on the second person plural pronoun (which he calls "the general you" for some reason) and to be frank, his reasoning is wrong. In the sentence You wouldn't say "May I ask you what is your name", the speaker is not addressing "general" anything. He addresses a specific subject: you! In sum, without casting aspersions on SLC, I don't think it's a useful answer. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Aug 22 '16 at 19:47
  • @yubrajsharma For some reason, will/would is particularly puzzling to some speakers of S. Asian languages and Arabic, just as the perfect is. This may have something to do with the fact that English is only weakly inflected and makes use of modal verbs (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will and would) to add inflection. The will-would tag at ELU might provide you with some insights. Click here. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Aug 22 '16 at 19:57
  • @P.E Dent, is the last part of your answer is related to hypothetical or conditional usage of would? or just a way of expressing negative desire about something just like:I don't want/like/go etc? – yubraj Sep 22 '16 at 07:43
  • P.E Dent,Can I say "I wouldn't want/like/do/wish etc instead of saying I don't want/like/do/wish etc ? – yubraj Sep 22 '16 at 07:49