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I was stuck in Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Because she said she'd a good mind to talk about it herself.

I understand the sentence but never read this form, does the 'd mean would? Even so could you explain me this usecase?
Also how do you read it outloud ? I guess she would a good mind but it doesn't feel natural to me.

Thanks

Bonus:

... and explain why it was we went

Shouldn't be why we went or why we did go ?

5
  • Coincidence. I'm reading this book too, with other books at the same time. I find it's hard to love this book. tedious...
    – Zhang
    Jul 25, 2019 at 9:08
  • @Zhang a good book won't allow others to be read at the same time, and can even cost me a night's sleep. Jul 25, 2019 at 9:10
  • @WeatherVane You're right, I read this one and stoped the others I've began almost automatically. Few night's sleep but glad it went this way
    – Mobidi
    Jul 25, 2019 at 14:32
  • @WeatherVane, To me, reading English novel is a good cure for insomnia. When at the sleepless night, as long as I read some novels like Gone With the Wind, I would fall sleep within 10 minutes. :)
    – Zhang
    Jul 26, 2019 at 1:48
  • @WeatherVane, I do my reading almost all on my commute or traveling path, on the subway.
    – Zhang
    Jul 26, 2019 at 1:53

2 Answers 2

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It abbreviates the word had.

So the expanded sentence reads

Because she said she had a good mind to talk about it herself.


The text in the bonus question is a bit wordy, but not incorrect, and your first version works well

... and explain why we went ...

But your second suggestion "... and explain why we did go" is ungrammatical.

2
  • Thanks for both answers, I don't know why I forgot about had but here it is! Also for the bonus, is it used orrally ?
    – Mobidi
    Jul 25, 2019 at 14:28
  • Much more usually than written, unless quoted speech. Jul 26, 2019 at 6:51
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"She'd" is a contraction of either "she had" or "she would".

In this case it is "she had":

She had a good mind to talk about it herself.

They are both pronounced the same, and context determines which it is. Only "she had" makes sense in your example.

To a native English speaker, this is no more unusual than any other homonym.

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