Teacher Discussion Forums

hi I am trying to teach my students in the use of "would" in questions and answers.
Here's an example
Would you go to dinner with me on Friday night?
short simple answers
positive...yes, I will.
now here's the problem I learnt to answer this with
negative...no, I can't.
now are far as I think "no, I wouldn't" doesn't work ...for me it doesn't sound right
ok another question
would it be right if we left after the mass?
positive.....yes, it would.
negative.....no, it wouldn't. see here wouldn't works ok not in the first question
I looked for help on this website with "would" but came up empty handed.
anywhere else I could find info on this
thanks vic

Hi Vic

Your second example is a second conditional question:

If we left after the mass, would it be right?

(If + past tense + would)

"No, it wouldn't" is a grammatically correct second conditional answer to this question.

The long answer might be:

No, if we left after mass, it wouldn't be right.

Your first example, on the other hand, is a request. The answer "No, I wouldn't" doesn't "sound" right because it isn't a typical or common answer to a request. Something like "Sorry, I can't" or "No, I'm busy" is more common!

Hope this helps

Keith
http://www.eslbase.com/