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I've been told that we can't use would for future events(expect in conditional sentences). But I have encountered many situations where native speakers use would to express future possibilities. Like in this song (Like I would)

He won't touch you like I do

He won't love you like I would

He don't know your body

He don't do you right

He won't love you like I would

Love you like I would

Saqeeb
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    Please do not expect song lyrics in English to exemplify the grammar you are taught in the classroom. I'm sure there is popular music in your first language, and that the lyrical content of those songs does not reflect the highest expression of grammatical purity! In any case, all of these uses of would are indeed conditional constructions. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Nov 08 '16 at 20:49
  • You are right in that sense but I have come across many such sentences where speakers use would(without condition) to express future possibility. – Saqeeb Nov 08 '16 at 20:54
  • Mary: The guy on the phone had French accent. Peter: It would be Nathan. – Saqeeb Nov 08 '16 at 20:55
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    I think the conditional in the song is implied: he won't love you like I would (if I were your boyfriend) – stangdon Nov 08 '16 at 20:58
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    Ref. Nathan, that's the modal would to express expectation. See KinzieB's answer here. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Nov 08 '16 at 21:05
  • I asked this kind of question few days ago.(http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/106683/can-we-use-some-modals-interchangeably) and someone told me that saying "I would rain tomorrow" is useless – Saqeeb Nov 08 '16 at 21:16
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    You raise a good and very tricky issue here - saying "That would be Nathan" isn't quite the same as "it would rain tomorrow" because it's not literally a prediction about the future. Again, I think this usage of would includes a kind of implied conditional: if there were a man with a French accent calling us on the phone, that would be Nathan. – stangdon Nov 08 '16 at 21:24
  • "It would rain tomorrow" can be taken in sense of "expectation". Like we say It would be Mr.X at door then why saying "It would rain tomorrow(expectedly)" is considered incorrect? – Saqeeb Nov 08 '16 at 21:34
  • But if you say "it would rain tomorrow", where's the implied "if"? "It ____ rain tomorrow" is definitely a statement about the future. "It would be Mr. X at the door" isn't exactly a statement about the future, it's a hypothetical. – stangdon Nov 08 '16 at 22:56
  • @Khan Ref. both "It would rain tomorrow" and "Peter: It would be Nathan," these are examples of would used to express presumption or expectation. See definition 6 at the American Heritage Dictionary. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Nov 09 '16 at 00:26
  • @stangdon In "It would rain tomorrow" or "He would say something like that", the modal expresses resigned acceptance, but I can't find (yet) a dictionary that discusses this meaning. Interesting in that it is so dependent upon context as to be nearly deictic in this usage. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Nov 09 '16 at 00:39
  • The examples with "Like" are comparative constructions, not conditionals. Take the first example: "I do" is a comparative clause functioning as a manner adjunct. The meaning is roughly "I touch you in manner x ; he will touch you in manner y way; x does not equal y" where the implication is that manner x is somehow more desirable than manner y. – BillJ Nov 09 '16 at 10:15

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