§16. Habits: will, would

Will and would

We can use will to talk about someone's typical behaviour or characteristic habits.

Simon loves music. He'll sit for hours listening to his stereo.

Kate is very kind. She'll always help people if she can.

We use would with the same meaning to talk about the past.

When I was a child my father would sometimes take me fishing.

My grandmother was very absent-minded. She would often buy something and then leave the shop without it.

Will and would are not stressed in this use.

If will or would are stressed ('), it suggests criticism.

He 'will slam the door when he comes in. It really makes me angry.

'She borrowed my camera without asking.' 'She 'would do a thing like that. She's always borro­wing things without asking.'

Used to and would

When we talk about past habits, we can use used to or would.

When we were children, we used to/would play

Cowboys and Indians together.

When I was a child, my elder brother used to/

would take me to the cinema every Saturday morning.

When we talk about past states, we can use used to, but not would.

My grandfather used to be a policeman.

I used to have a moustache, but I shaved it off.

Activities

I. Complete the sentences using will or would and one of the verbs in the box.

carry on spend lend go lie throw forget

1. Kate is very generous. She ... (always) you money if you need it. 2. Ken's grandfather was very mean. He ... (never) anything away if he could use it again. 3. Mr Woods is a real chatterbox! He ... talking for hours and hours if you give him a chance. 4. When Simon was a child, he ... (often) hours just looking out of the window. 5. 'I'm always tired these days.' 'Well, you ... to bed so late every night, it isn't surprising!' 6. Robert has got a very bad memory. He ... (often) where he's parked his car. 7. She is not honest. She ... even when there is no need.

//. Write similar sentences, using either the Present Simple, the Present Continuous (with always,), or will, to illustrate the following characteristics.

He's a very good company.

He makes me laugh.

He's always telling jokes.

He'll not only tell funny stories, but he'll listen to

what you've got to say as well.

1. She's such an optimist. 2. He has terrible table manners. 3. He's so adventurous. 4. Our neighbours are really friendly. 5. My daughter is a bit naughty. 6. But my son is so good-natured. 7. She's a very outgoing person, isn't she? 8. I wish you wouldn't be so fussy! 9. He's painfully shy, isn't he?

III. Write similar sentences, using either used to or would, to

illustrate the following past habits.

My grandfather was such a kind man.

He used to know if something was wrong, and he'd

always make it better.

I. Andrew could be very selfish at times. 2. My sister was so untidy when she was young. 3. My mother's big passion was walking. 4. When he was younger, he was so spoilt. 5. My parents were very interested in amateur theatricals. 6. My English teacher had real favourites in the class. 7. My mother was terribly house­proud. 8. I was very sporty when I was a child.

IV. Will' and 'would'

Both are used to express characteristic behaviour. If the

speaker finds the behaviour annoying, will and would are

stressed, and are not contracted.

Compare the following:

My children are very good. On Saturday mornings they'll

watch television and get their own breakfast so we can have

a lie-in.

But they will fight about which one should feed the cat.

Rewrite the following sentences, using will or would. If the sentences seem to express the speaker's annoyance, underline the modal verb to show that it is stressed.

1. My grandfather sat in his rocking chair for hours, watching the fire and sucking on his pipe. 2. My grandmother used to get very cross because he put his muddy boots on the table. 3. My dog is so intelligent. I don't have to tell her when it's time to go for a walk. She gets the lead and she tugs at my trousers until I stand up. 4. But she runs in other people's gardens and pulls up their flowers. 5. When I was young, if

we had a severe winter we were cut off for weeks on end, and we had to live on whatever was in the house. 6. When my aunt, who's a bit deaf, wants some peace, she takes the batteries out of her hearing aid. It works! It's impossible to get through to her! 7. But then she forgets where she put the batteries! 8. My first boyfriend was an incurable romantic. He bought me flowers every Friday, and he wrote poems about us. 9. My flatmate adores tea. She drinks six cups at breakfast. 10. My father's quite a wealthy man, but he goes out without any money. 11. He borrows some from whoever's around, but he always pays it back. 12. My daughter keeps interrupting me when I'm trying to concentrate. 13. He kept asking me the most stupid questions. 14. My aunt loved writing letters. She wrote twenty or thirty a week. 15. My dog followed me round wherever I went. 16. But he left his hairs on all the furniture. 17. So I had to spend hours trying to get them off. 18. When we went out for a walk, he ran miles and miles.

V. In order to practise using would to express a repeated action in the past, use would whenever possible in the following sentences. Otherwise, use used to.

I. I ... (be) very shy. Whenever a stranger came to our house, I... (hide) in a closet. 2.1 remember my Aunt Susan very well. Every time she came to our house, she ... (give) me a big kiss and pinch my cheek. 3. Illiteracy is still a problem in my country, but it... (be) much worse. 4.1... (be) afraid of flying. My heart ... (start) pounding every time I stepped on a plane. But now I'm used to flying and enjoy it. 5. I got a new bicycle when I was ten. My friends ... (ask) to ride it, but for years I ... (let, never) anyone else use it. 6. When my grandfather was a boy and had a cold, his mother ... (make) him go to bed. Then she ... (put) goose fat on his chest. 7. When I was a child, I ... (take) a flashlight to bed with me so that I could read comic books without my parents' knowing about it. 8. Last summer, my sister and I took a camping trip in the Rocky Mountains. It was a wonderful experience. Every morning, we ... (wake) up to the sound of singing birds. During the day, we ... (hike) through woods and along mountain streams. Often we ... (see)

deer. On one occasion we saw a bear and quickly ran in the opposite direction. 9.1 can remember Mrs Sawyer's fifth grade class well. When we arrived each morning, she ... (sit) at her desk. She ... (smile, always) and ... (say) hello to each student as he or she entered. When the bell rang, she ... (stand) up and (clear) her throat. That was our signal to be quiet. Class was about to begin. 10. I'll never forget evenings spent with my grandparents when I was a child. My grandmother ... (tell) stories of her childhood seventy years ago, and we ... (listen) intently and question her for every detail.

VI. Which of these sentences can be completed with either used to or would? Which of them can only be completed with used to?

1. When we were children, we lived by the sea. In summer, if the weather was fine, we ... all get up early and go for a swim.

2. When I was little, I ... be afraid of the dark. 3. Before he went to prison, he ... live in a large house. He ... have a lot of money. 4. As a boy, I... go for long walks, especially on summer mornings. 5. Whenever Arthur was angry, he ... just walk out of the room. 6. That cinema is nearly always empty now. I remember a few years ago it... be crowded every night. 7. We ... live next to a railway line. Every time a train went past, the whole house ... shake. 8. When he went out, Jack ... always take an umbrella with him whether it was raining or not. 9. Years ago I... have a motorbike. 10. Each time we went out together he ... show me something new, something interesting. 11. Sharon ... think that dressing in black looked great. 12. In her youth Marion ... have long hair. 13. Joe and his friends ... carry radios everywhere they went. 14. When she was young she ... be much thinner.

VII. Look at the following text.

As a boy, I liked going for long walks, especially on summer mornings. We lived in the country, and the hills behind our house were beautiful. I got up early, and without waking my parents, I crept out of the house. Once I walked for twenty miles, and my parents got very worried. We had a dog called

Rex, and together we climbed the hills while the rest of the world was sleeping. I loved those days, so innocent, so carefree. I went back there last year; but it wasn't the same.

A. Which of the verbs in italics ...

a. can take would or used to?

b. can take only used to?

c. must stay in the Past Simple?

B. Now retell the story, using the Past Simple, used to or would.

VIII. Study and practise the texts.

1.1 don't remember very much about my childhood, actually. My wife's always asking me 'When you were a boy, did you use to ...' and I reply 'I don't know, I can't remember.' We didn't ... we didn't use to talk very much, we weren't very close, or if we were, we didn't show it. I remember I used to have my hair cut every Friday. My father and I would go together. I had the shortest hair in the school. When they'd finished cutting it, they'd burn the ends with a sort of candle. Oh I'll never forget that smell.

2. I got on very well with my mother. I used to tell her everything — or nearly everything — and she'd talk to me openly too. Sometimes she'd say to me 'Don't go to school today. Stay with me.' And we'd go out shopping or something like that. It's a wonder I had any education at all, the number of days I missed from school.

IX. Translate from Russian into English.

1. Вечера он по большей части проводил за игрой в шахма­ты. 2. Он часто засыпал с книжкой в руках и с очками на носу. 3. После работы он обычно дожидался нас у моста. 4. Когда я была студенткой, я имела обыкновение проводить выходные дни в библиотеке. 5. Джон очень любит читать. Он часами просиживает за чтением книг. 6. Летом мы обычно ходили в лес за грибами и ягодами. 7. Он имеет обыкновение звонить мне поздно вечером, когда я уже сплю.