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Is "would" incompatible with "I'm not sure"? If so, do you know why?

A: Where's John now?

B: I'm not sure. He would be at home now.

A: When will John come back?

B: I'm not sure. He would be back by seven.

Apollyon
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    The short answer is: they are compatible. Explaining it is difficult. I tried explaining it once before in this answer. See especially the 4th example. – Ben Kovitz Mar 30 '21 at 00:58
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    I think those expression would be more idiomatic with "would usually". The would is conditional, and "usually" sets the condition. In the first sentence of this comment, I used "would be more idiomatic", and the condition was "with 'would usually'". – Jack O'Flaherty Mar 30 '21 at 02:19
  • @JackO'Flaherty Is it okay to use "I'm not sure" with "but he would normally be at home now"? – Apollyon Mar 30 '21 at 03:24
  • @Apollyon Yes, "normally" qualifies "would". Qualifying the whole with "I'm not sure, but..." is quite idiomatic. – Jack O'Flaherty Mar 30 '21 at 04:29

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