Contractions - 7 - Modal Verbs - Will and Would

Welcome to the seventh special edition of the Quiero mejorar mi ingles podcast about contractions. (Download from iTunes)

Last week we looked at the contractions of the verb 'to have' in the past simple, and this week we’re going to look at the contractions of the modal auxiliary verbs 'will' and ‘would’.

All of the modal auxiliary verbs have contractions of their negative forms but only ‘will’ and ‘would’ have contractions in their affirmative forms too.

I am going to begin with the contractions of ‘will’. Firstly, here is the affirmative contraction.

Pay attention!

I will - I’ll
You will - you’ll
He will - he’ll
She will - she’ll
It will - it’ll
We will - we’ll
They will - they’ll

Here are some simple example sentences:

• I’ll call you as soon as I arrive.
• You’ll never believe what happened to me yesterday!
• He’ll be arriving on the next plane from London.
• She’ll be really happy if she passes her driving test.
• It’ll be interesting to see you dad’s reaction to the marriage.
• We’ll be at home until 10 o’clock.
• They’ll be disappointed if you don’t accept their invitation.
  

Now, let’s look at the negative contractions of the modal auxiliary verb ‘will’.

I will not - I won’t

You will not - you won’t

He will not - he won’t

She will not - she won’t

It will not - it won’t

We will not - we won’t

They will not - they won’t

Here are some simple examples:

• I won’t be in the office on Monday.
• You won’t sleep if you drink another coffee.
• He won’t explain what the problem is.
• She won’t come back again if you don’t treat her well.
• It won’t be difficult for you to learn a third a language.
• We won’t be able to go to the dinner.
• They won’t be available next week as they’re on holiday.
  

OK, now let’s turn to the contractions of the modal auxiliary verb ‘would’.

Pay attention!

I would - I’d

You would - you’d

He would - he’d

She would - she’d

It would - it’d

We would - we’d

They would - they’d

Here are some simple example sentences:

• I’d like to spend a year working in London.
• You’d love the new Woody Allen film!
• He’d do anything for me.
• She’d like to talk to her family before accepting the job offer.
• It’d be better to say nothing, under the circumstances.
• We’d prefer to go to New York for Christmas.
• They’d buy a beach house if they won the lottery.
  

Now, let’s look at the negative contractions of the modal auxiliary verb ‘would’.

I would not - I wouldn’t

You would not - you wouldn’t

He would not - he wouldn’t

She would not - she wouldn’t

It would not - it wouldn’t

We would not - we wouldn’t

They would not - they wouldn’t

Here are some simple examples:

• I wouldn’t ever order Sushi in a Japanese restaurant.
• You wouldn’t buy a new flat if you lost your job, would you?
• He wouldn’t tell me where he had been.
• She wouldn’t explain why she hadn’t gone to work.
• It wouldn’t take long to find out where you’ve been.
• We wouldn’t have come if we’d known you had guests.
• They wouldn’t return to the same hotel next year; the food was terrible.
  
  

Ok, before finishing, I know that there is often confusion about the difference between the contraction of the verb ‘to have’, when it’s used as an auxiliary to make the past perfect, and the contraction of the modal auxiliary verb ‘would’. However, there is an important distinction between the two which is that the verb ‘to have’, as an auxiliary, is followed by the past participle of the main verb whereas the modal auxiliary ‘would’ is followed by a bare infinitive, that is to say an infinitive without 'to'.

In one of the examples I gave earlier, we heard:

• We wouldn’t have come if we’d known you had guests.
  

In this example ‘known’ is the past participle of the verb ‘to know’ and so the contraction ‘we’d’ replaces ‘we had’

However, in another example that I gave earlier, we heard:

• We’d prefer to go to New York for Christmas.
  

In this case, the contraction is followed by the infinitive ‘prefer’ and therefore the contraction ‘we’d’ replaces ‘we would’.

I hope that is now clear!

Anyway, in order to learn the correct pronunciation of the contractions I have given you today, you could practice by making some simple sentences and saying them out loud.

Next week, we will take a look at the negative contractions of the other modal auxiliary verbs.