Could, should and would – These Verbs are called ‘Modal Verbs’ because they work according to the Mood of the Subject.
Use of Could
Ability in the past:
- He said he could swim well.
- He could speak English.
Learn more examples:
- I wish I could speak English.
- I wish I could go to Japan.
- I wish I could buy that guitar.
- He could not walk any further.
- No one could solve the puzzle.
- I’m so hungry that I could eat a horse.
- I left early so I could get a good seat.
- Everybody knew she could speak English well.
Request and Permission:
- Could I help you?
- Could I change rooms?
- Could I use your desk?
- Could you repeat that?
- Could I use your pencil?
- Could you do me a favor?
- Could I park my car here?
- Could you tell me the way?
- Could you do this instead of me?
How to use Should?
Should is used to give advice.
- You should go.
- You should sleep.
- You should know it.
- You should exercise.
- You should work hard.
- You should stay in bed.
- You should take my advice.
- You should tell the truth.
- You should obey your parents.
- Drivers should wear seat belts.
- I think that we should try again.
Also ‘Should’ is used to request.
- Should I make a phone call, please?
- Should I wait?
Learn more examples:
- How should I know?
- Where should we go?
- What should I do now?
- What should I feed my dog?
- When should I feed my dog?
- Should I wait for you here?
- Should I reply to his letter?
- When should I return the car?
- How much should I feed my dog?
- Do you think I should go alone?
- Should I wait for her to come back?
Correct use of Would
‘Would’ is used to mean courtesy and casual habits
I would swim.
- I mean I used to swim but now I don’t. It’s an irregular habit that I used to do but I don’t do anymore. In these cases, we should use ‘would’.
He would smoke.
Would you please lend me some money?
– Using would in a sentence brings a Politeness. Here we could use ‘can’.
Can you please lend me some money?
But can means to be able to do something.
Such as –
- I can sing.
- I can play football.
# So, in my opinion it is better not to use can in all these cases.
He would read eight hours per day.
– It is an irregular habit, he used to read for eight hours every day but now he does not read anymore. So we should use Would here.
Polite request:
- Would you like to buy this?
- Would you like coffee or tea?
- Would you like something to eat?
More examples:
- You would love it.
- How would you know?
- Where would you go?
- Would I lie to you?
- Would you be quiet?
- Would you teach me?
- How would you do it?
- How would you react?
I tried to teach you how to use them very easily. From now on you can easily use Could, should and would.
