Ask Difference

Will vs. Would — What's the Difference?

By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 27, 2023
"Will" is used to express future intentions or predictions. "Would" often indicates past habits or conditional situations.
Will vs. Would — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Will and Would

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Key Differences

Will is a modal verb that primarily signifies the future tense in English. When you state an action that is going to take place in the future, "will" is your go-to. For example, "I will call you tomorrow." On the other hand, Would is also a modal verb, often used to talk about a situation that is imagined or unreal, typically in conditional statements.
Using Will is straightforward when making promises or giving orders. "I will always love you" or "You will finish your chores" exemplify this. In contrast, Would can show politeness, especially in requests. "Would you pass the salt?" is softer and more polite than using "will".
In discussing habits, Will describes a future habit, while Would can describe past habits. "He will eat ice cream every night" indicates a future habit. For past habits, you might say, "When she was a child, she would play in the rain."
Will can be used to express determination or willingness, like "I will solve this puzzle, no matter what." Would, in another of its uses, can express a repeated action in the past. For instance, "Every summer, we would go to the beach."

Comparison Chart

Primary Usage

Indicates future tense.
Indicates conditional situations or past habits.
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Requests

More direct (e.g., "Will you help?").
Polite (e.g., "Would you help?").

Habit Description

Describes future habits.
Describes past habits.

Determination

Can express determination (e.g., "I will do it!").
N/A

Conditionality

Used in direct statements about the future.
Used in hypothetical or unreal situations.

Compare with Definitions

Will

Used to indicate intention or determination.
I will finish this book tonight.

Would

Used in conditional sentences to indicate a possible situation.
I would visit if I had the time.

Will

A legal document detailing how one's possessions should be distributed after death.
He left a will stating his wishes.

Would

Used to make polite requests or offers.
Would you like some coffee?

Will

The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action
Championed freedom of will against a doctrine of predetermination.

Would

Indicates a wish or desire.
I would that it were true.

Will

Diligent purposefulness; determination
An athlete with the will to win.

Would

Used to express possibility or likelihood in the past.
I thought she would be at the party.

Will

Self-control; self-discipline
Lacked the will to overcome the addiction.

Would

Indicates a past habit or routine.
She would walk her dog every morning.

Will

A desire, purpose, or determination, especially of one in authority
It is the sovereign's will that the prisoner be spared.

Would

Past of will, in various senses
The windows would not close
He said he would be away for a couple of days
She wouldn't leave

Will

Deliberate intention or wish
Let it be known that I took this course of action against my will.

Would

(expressing the conditional mood) indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation
He would lose his job if he were identified

Will

Free discretion; inclination or pleasure
Wandered about, guided only by will.

Would

Expressing a desire or inclination
I would love to work in America
Would you like some water?

Will

Bearing or attitude toward others; disposition
Full of good will.

Would

Expressing a polite request
Would you pour the wine, please?

Will

A legal declaration of how a person wishes their personal possessions to be disposed of after death.

Would

Expressing a conjecture, opinion, or hope
I would imagine that they're home by now
I guess some people would consider it brutal
I would have to agree

Will

A legally executed document containing this declaration.

Would

Used to make a comment about behaviour that is typical
They would say that, wouldn't they?

Will

To decide on or intend
He can finish the race if he wills it.

Would

Expressing a wish or regret
Would that he had lived to finish it

Will

To yearn for; desire
“She makes you will your own destruction” (George Bernard Shaw).

Would

Past tense of will; usually followed by a bare infinitive.

Will

To decree, dictate, or order
Believed that the outcome was willed by the gods.

Would

Used to form the "anterior future", or "future in the past", indicating a futurity relative to a past time.
On my first day at University, I met the woman who would become my wife.

Will

To induce or try to induce by sheer force of will
We willed the sun to come out.

Would

Used to; was or were habitually accustomed to; indicating an action in the past that happened repeatedly or commonly.
When we were younger, we would cycle out to the beach most summer Sundays.

Will

To grant in a legal will; bequeath
Willed his fortune to charity.

Would

Was or were determined to; indicating someone's insistence upon doing something.
I asked her to stay in with me, but she would go out.

Will

To order to direct in a legal will
She willed that her money be given to charity.

Would

Could naturally have been expected to (given the tendencies of someone's character etc.).
He denied it, but then he would, wouldn't he?

Will

To exercise the will.

Would

(archaic) Wanted to.

Will

To make a choice; choose
Do as you will.

Would

(archaic) Used with ellipsis of the infinitive verb, or postponement to a relative clause, in various senses.

Will

To wish; desire
Do what you will. Sit here if you will. See Usage Note at shall.

Would

(obsolete) Wished, desired (something).

Will

(auxiliary) Used to express the future tense, sometimes with some implication of volition when used in the first person. Compare shall.
One of our salesmen will visit you tomorrow.
I will pass this exam.

Would

A modal verb, the subjunctive of will; usually followed by a bare infinitive.

Will

(auxiliary) To be able to, to have the capacity to.
Unfortunately, only one of these gloves will actually fit over my hand.

Would

Used as the auxiliary of the simple conditional modality, indicating a state or action that is conditional on another.
If I won the lottery, I would give half the money to charity.

Will

(auxiliary) Expressing a present tense with some conditional or subjective weakening: "will turn out to", "must by inference".
He will be home by now. He always gets home before 6 o'clock.
I can't find my umbrella. I will have forgotten it home this morning.

Would

Without explicit condition, or with loose or vague implied condition, indicating a hypothetical or imagined state or action.
I would love to come and visit.
Look at that yummy cake! I would eat that all up!

Will

(auxiliary) To habitually do (a given action).
Boys will be boys.

Would

Suggesting conditionality or potentiality in order to express a sense of politeness, tentativeness, indirectness, hesitancy, uncertainty, etc.
I would ask you all to sit down.
I would imagine that they have already left.

Will

(auxiliary) To choose or agree to (do something); used to express intention but without any temporal connotations (+ bare infinitive), often in questions and negation.
Will you marry me?
I’ve told him three times, but he won’t take his medicine.

Would

Used to express what the speaker would do in another person's situation, as a means of giving a suggestion or recommendation.
It's disgraceful the way that they've treated you. I would write and complain.

Will

To wish, desire (something).
Do what you will.

Would

Used to express the speaker's belief or assumption.
He's very security-conscious, so he would have remembered to lock the door.
They would be arriving in London round about now.

Will

To wish or desire (that something happen); to intend (that).

Would

Used interrogatively to express a polite request; are (you) willing to …?
Would you pass the salt, please?

Will

(archaic) Implying will go.

Would

Might wish (+ verb in past subjunctive); often used in the first person (with or without that) in the sense of "if only".

Will

To instruct (that something be done) in one's will.

Would

Might desire; wish (something).

Will

(transitive) To bequeath (something) to someone in one's will (legal document).
He willed his stamp collection to the local museum.

Would

Something that would happen, or would be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality.

Will

(transitive) To exert one's force of will (intention) in order to compel, or attempt to compel, something to happen or someone to do something.
All the fans were willing their team to win the game.

Would

Commonly used as an auxiliary verb, either in the past tense or in the conditional or optative present. See 2d & 3d Will.
Right as our Lord hath would.

Will

One's independent faculty of choice; the ability to be able to exercise one's choice or intention.
Of course, man's will is often regulated by his reason.

Would

See 2d Weld.

Will

The act of choosing to do something; a person’s conscious intent or volition.
Most creatures have a will to live.

Will

One's intention or decision; someone's orders or commands.
Eventually I submitted to my parents' will.

Will

Firmity of purpose, fixity of intent

Will

(law) A formal declaration of one's intent concerning the disposal of one's property and holdings after death; the legal document stating such wishes.

Will

(archaic) That which is desired; one's wish.

Will

(archaic) Desire, longing. (Now generally merged with later senses.)
He felt a great will to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Will

The power of choosing; the faculty or endowment of the soul by which it is capable of choosing; the faculty or power of the mind by which we decide to do or not to do; the power or faculty of preferring or selecting one of two or more objects.
It is necessary to form a distinct notion of what is meant by the word "volition" in order to understand the import of the word will, for this last word expresses the power of mind of which "volition" is the act.
Will is an ambiguous word, being sometimes put for the faculty of willing; sometimes for the act of that faculty, besides [having] other meanings. But "volition" always signifies the act of willing, and nothing else.
Appetite is the will's solicitor, and the will is appetite's controller; what we covet according to the one, by the other we often reject.
The will is plainly that by which the mind chooses anything.

Will

The choice which is made; a determination or preference which results from the act or exercise of the power of choice; a volition.
The word "will," however, is not always used in this its proper acceptation, but is frequently substituted for "volition", as when I say that my hand mover in obedience to my will.

Will

The choice or determination of one who has authority; a decree; a command; discretionary pleasure.
Thy will be done.
Our prayers should be according to the will of God.

Will

Strong wish or inclination; desire; purpose.
My poverty, but not my will, consents; . . . Put this in any liquid thing you will,And drink it off.

Will

That which is strongly wished or desired.
What's your will, good friar?
The mariner hath his will.

Will

Arbitrary disposal; power to control, dispose, or determine.
Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies.

Will

The legal declaration of a person's mind as to the manner in which he would have his property or estate disposed of after his death; the written instrument, legally executed, by which a man makes disposition of his estate, to take effect after his death; testament; devise. See the Note under Testament, 1.

Will

To wish; to desire; to incline to have.
A wife as of herself no thing ne sholde [should]Wille in effect, but as her husband wolde [would].
Caleb said unto her, What will thou ?
They would none of my counsel.

Will

As an auxiliary, will is used to denote futurity dependent on the verb. Thus, in first person, "I will" denotes willingness, consent, promise; and when "will" is emphasized, it denotes determination or fixed purpose; as, I will go if you wish; I will go at all hazards. In the second and third persons, the idea of distinct volition, wish, or purpose is evanescent, and simple certainty is appropriately expressed; as, "You will go," or "He will go," describes a future event as a fact only. To emphasize will denotes (according to the tone or context) certain futurity or fixed determination.
I am able to devote as much time and attention to other subjects as I will [shall] be under the necessity of doing next winter.
A countryman, telling us what he had seen, remarked that if the conflagration went on, as it was doing, we would [should] have, as our next season's employment, the Old Town of Edinburgh to rebuild.
I feel assured that I will [shall] not have the misfortune to find conflicting views held by one so enlightened as your excellency.

Will

To be willing; to be inclined or disposed; to be pleased; to wish; to desire.
And behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus . . . touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean.

Will

To form a distinct volition of; to determine by an act of choice; to ordain; to decree.
By all law and reason, that which the Parliament will not, is no more established in this kingdom.
Two things he [God] willeth, that we should be good, and that we should be happy.

Will

To enjoin or command, as that which is determined by an act of volition; to direct; to order.
They willed me say so, madam.
Send for music,And will the cooks to use their best of cunningTo please the palate.
As you go, will the lord mayor . . . To attend our further pleasure presently.

Will

To give or direct the disposal of by testament; to bequeath; to devise; as, to will one's estate to a child; also, to order or direct by testament; as, he willed that his nephew should have his watch.

Will

To exercise an act of volition; to choose; to decide; to determine; to decree.
At Winchester he lies, so himself willed.
He that shall turn his thoughts inward upon what passes in his own mind when he wills.
I contend for liberty as it signifies a power in man to do as he wills or pleases.

Will

The capability of conscious choice and decision and intention;
The exercise of their volition we construe as revolt

Will

A fixed and persistent intent or purpose;
Where there's a will there's a way

Will

A legal document declaring a person's wishes regarding the disposal of their property when they die

Will

Decree or ordain;
God wills our existence

Will

Have in mind;
I will take the exam tomorrow

Will

Determine by choice;
This action was willed and intended

Will

Leave or give by will after one's death;
My aunt bequeathed me all her jewelry
My grandfather left me his entire estate

Will

Used to express future actions or events.
She will travel to Spain next month.

Will

Used to make promises or offers.
I will always be there for you.

Will

Used to give orders or commands.
You will obey the rules.

Common Curiosities

Can "will" be used in a question?

Yes, e.g., "Will you come to the party?"

How is "would" used in polite requests?

"Would" softens the tone, making requests like "Would you help?" sound more courteous.

Does "would" always indicate the past?

Not always. It can indicate past habits, but it's also used for hypotheticals or polite requests.

Can "will" be used to make a promise?

Yes, e.g., "I will support you."

Is "will" always about the future?

Primarily, but it can also express determination or promises, not strictly future actions.

How is "will" different in meaning from "going to"?

Both can express the future, but "will" often feels more spontaneous or certain than "going to".

How does "would" relate to "used to"?

Both can indicate past habits, but "would" often emphasizes repetition, while "used to" emphasizes the discontinuity of the habit.

Can "would" express a repeated past action?

Yes, like "We would visit Grandma every Sunday."

Is "will" used in predictions?

Yes, e.g., "It will rain tomorrow."

Is "will" used in the first conditional?

Yes, e.g., "If it rains, I will stay home."

Is "would" used in unreal conditions?

Yes, like in "I would go if I could."

In which conditional is "would" typically found?

The second and third conditionals, e.g., "If I knew, I would tell you."

Can "will" indicate refusal?

Yes, as in "The car won't start," implying refusal.

How does "would" function in indirect speech?

It can report a statement with "will" from direct speech, like "He said he would come."

Can both "will" and "would" be shortened in contractions?

Yes, "will" can be "I'll" and "would" can be "I'd" in contractions.

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Author Spotlight

Written by
Tayyaba Rehman
Tayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.

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