r/MadeMeSmile • u/leotheabys • Aug 26 '23

Scratching the brain itch gatto

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15.3k Upvotes
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99

u/Fun_Intention9846 Aug 26 '23

I also kissed and cuddled my cat this much. People say they hate it but he would literally sprint over if I called.

I got denied a promotion at work for using would to describe events in the past. Entire reason they said “we asked what you did not what you would hypothetically do.”

26

u/leotheabys Aug 26 '23

What do you mean? Using "would" as "used to" is grammatically correct. I am an English teacher, so I am absolutely sure about that one.

6

u/2oocents Aug 26 '23

Wouldn't the "if" make the "would" a hypothetical?

13

u/Flat_Bodybuilder_175 Aug 26 '23

English teacher as well lol. It depends on the context. "Would" can be used for both past tense and conditional tense. Sometimes both tenses can be present in the same sentence.

Example

"When we were kids, we would eat by the quarry if the weather was nice."

3

u/jmverlin Aug 26 '23

I was taught to just say “we ate by…” but that was journalism school where writing short is the goal.

3

u/Flat_Bodybuilder_175 Aug 26 '23

That's also acceptable! What makes "would" unique in past tense is that it also specifically signifies something happening more than once. That's the only time I use it - when using past simple tense could confuse a routine event for a one time thing.