Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[sejpdw]

"While it took an average of 28 seconds to buy a stamp in an English post office, 47 seconds were taken on average for the same purchase in an Italian post office. It would appear that the reputation of Italian post offices is not without foundation!"

In the final sentence, I don't know the reason 'would' was used.
'It appeared that..." seems OK.
Please explain the meaning and use of 'would' in this sentence.

[peterteacher]

There is not much difference between "It would appear that..." and "It appears that..." (by the way, the present tense is better than past here).

Technically speaking the use of "would" just lessens the certainty of the sentence. If you use "It would appear that..." it means you are slightly less certain that the service in an Italian post office is slow than if you use "it appears that...".

Practically speaking, prefacing the sentence with "It would appear that..." gives it quite a sarcastic, sardonic tone. In this context it seems more humorous than scathingly critical.
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