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    Ask About English: Using Didn't and Wouldn't

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    Mohammad Ashour

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    Ask About English: Using Didn't and Wouldn't

    Uploaded by

    Mohammad Ashour
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    didnt and wouldnt

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    23 views3 pages

    Ask About English: Using Didn't and Wouldn't

    Uploaded by

    Mohammad Ashour

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    Ask about

    English
    Using didn’t and wouldn’t
    BBC Learning English – Ask about English

    Available online at:


    www.bbclearningenglish.com/radio/specials/1535_questionanswer

    Nyu Shvei in Hong Kong asks:


    When should I use the two sentences, “I didn’t go home,” “I wouldn’t go home”?

    Martin Parrot answers:


    Oh this is a very interesting example. I think “I didn’t go home” is quite easy. That’s not
    the problem. “I didn’t go home” is a simple statement of fact. It’s completely neutral; it’s
    just giving the information. The minute we come across a word like ‘wouldn’t’ – a modal
    verb, there’s more involved and the interesting thing about “I wouldn’t go home” is that
    it could have two completely different meanings. Of course we need to learn these and
    use these in context. And without a context we can’t know which one it is.

    There are two meanings as I said. The first is, “I wouldn’t go home”, would mean I
    refused to go home. People wanted me to go home, people tried to persuade me to go
    home but I insisted on staying, on not going home, I refused to go home. That’s the first
    meaning.

    The second meaning is related to the use of the word ‘would’ to express a habit in the
    past, something which is done repeatedly. And there “I wouldn’t go home” means that on
    a large number of occasions I didn’t go home. So perhaps I might be talking about my
    childhood and I might be talking about the fact that my parents worked and the house
    was empty at the end of the day so that when I finished school I wouldn’t go home – I’d
    go to my grandmother’s or to some friend’s houses and I wouldn’t go home. This is a
    regular habit.

    Question:
    Is there anything similar to that in the present?

    Martin:
    Now that is an interesting question. Because of course grammatically we can see ‘would’
    as the past of ‘will’ or ‘wouldn’t’ as the past of ‘won’t’ and we do talk about somebody
    who refuses to do something using ‘won’t’ in the present – not in the future – in the
    present. She ‘won’t go home’ means she is standing there saying “I’m not going home,
    I’m staying here.” So yes, it’s very similar.

    And we also, although interestingly this is often not taught, we use ‘will’ and ‘won’t’ in
    the present, not in the future, in the present, to express things that happen repeatedly.

    So you know, I might say, “when I get up I’ll go, I will go into the bathroom and gargle
    and swallow some water and clean my throat and make a noise with it every morning.”
    And there the meaning of will is a present meaning and not a future meaning. I might
    say, “When I get up, I won’t have breakfast, I’m in too much of a hurry – I go straight to
    work”, and there that ‘won’t’ – like the ‘wouldn’t’ in ‘wouldn’t go home’ is expressing
    something that I don’t do on a very regular basis in the present.

    Question:
    So that’s quite an easy way for learners to remember it – it’s something that happens on
    a regular basis – it’s something quite normal in their lives.

    Ask about English © BBC Learning English


    Page 2 of 3
    bbclearningenglish.com
    BBC Learning English – Ask about English

    Martin:
    And the interesting thing is that when they come across these – the ‘wouldn’t’s’ and the
    ‘won’ts’ like all modal verbs they need to look at the context because one of the things
    about modal verbs is that they can have lots of different meanings and we need to spot
    the meaning by looking at the context in which it’s being used.

    Audio available online at:


    www.bbclearningenglish.com/radio/specials/1535_questionanswer

    Ask about English © BBC Learning English


    Page 3 of 3
    bbclearningenglish.com

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