I have a question: when I could use the modal verb ¨Could¨ and when ¨Would¨ because for me is similar. I know ¨Would¨ we can use it in very polite situations like ¨would you like a cup of coffee¨. But I saw ¨Would¨ in informal conversations similar to ¨ Could¨. Can somebody help me with that, please?
1 Answer
"Could" and "would" have some special use patterns when requests are involved.
Would you like a cup of coffee?
^ This is a correct way to ask if the listener wants you to give her some coffee.
Could you like a cup of coffee?
^ This is not correct; it sounds wrong and would not be spoken by a fluent speaker. "Could" refers to a possible future event - you are asking if she wants coffee /now/, not if there is may ever be a future point in time at which she might possibly want it.
If however, you are asking another person to do something, they are nearly interchangeable:
Would you pour me a cup of coffee?
and
Could you pour me a cup of coffee?
are both relatively polite ways to ask that the listener prepare your coffee.
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I think it's more colloquial BrE than AmE, but I could go a pint is syntactically fine, as is I could murder a steak. Commented Sep 3, 2020 at 17:03
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1Neither of these have anything to do with the question or this answer so far as I can tell, and "I could go a pint" is so intensely dialectual that it probably shouldn't even be given as a use example to learners. (It's incorrect use in all american english and also in RP)– BadZenCommented Sep 3, 2020 at 17:13
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I couldn't / wouldn't agree with you there, but it's not worth arguing about. Commented Sep 3, 2020 at 17:40
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@WeatherVane - that sounds to me like the speaker is asking about the listener's /ability/ to drink a cup of coffee, not her /desire to/.– BadZenCommented Sep 3, 2020 at 23:22