“Would” is a helping verb used to talk about imagined situations, polite requests, and past habits. It often shows what someone was willing to do or what might happen under certain conditions.
“Would” comes from Old English “wolde,” the past tense of “willan,” meaning “to want” or “to wish.” It started as a word about desire and intention and later became a flexible tool for many kinds of grammar.
Deep down, “would” is a ghost of “want”—it once clearly meant “wanted to.” That’s why it still carries a feeling of softer desire or possibility rather than hard fact.
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