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  1. Mechanical testing provides information about the suitability of a material for its intended application to help companies design products that will perform as expected.

Does "will" here implies the writer's opinion about what seems to be definite in the future or the writer is making a guess or prediction about the future?

  1. We will also recommend both corrective and preventive actions to reduce future risk of failure and optimize performance.

I think "will" here implies the writer's commitment to recommend both corrective and preventive actions to reduce future risk of failure and optimize performance.

  1. A: Have you decided what you are going to do with the car?

B: No. Father thinks it’ll cost a lot of money to fix.

Concerning B, what would it mean with "B: No. Father thinks it WOULD cost a lot of money to fix."? Should we say WOULD because "fixing" is hypothetical? Or should we say WILL because the situation is real here? If WILL, does it imply WILL prediction or WILL definite(sure) future?

Thank you.

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  • It's an optional stylistic choice to include will in both the first two examples. Arguably if it is included, that implies "emphasis" (dispelling any possibility that the products might not perform, or that we might not make any recommendations). But that's a pretty weak argument - I'd say it's just a stylistic choice, and leave it at that. Note that you can't use would in such contexts - it's syntactically invalid because the context is [in the future of] actual present tense, not past tense or hypothetical.
    – FumbleFingers
    Jan 27, 2021 at 18:57

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"Will" is unnecessary in the first sentence, as the products already exist when their performance is being evaluated:

"Mechanical testing provides information about the suitability of a material for its intended application to help companies design products that perform as expected."

Here, the reliable operation of well-designed products can be considered timeless, as described by the present tense ("perform").

"Will" is unnecessary in the second sentence unless the recommendation will occur later:

We also recommend both corrective and preventive actions to reduce future risk of failure and optimize performance.

When we meet with the committee next week, we will also recommend both corrective and preventive actions to reduce future risk of failure and optimize performance.

"Will" is used in the third sentence to indicate a likely outcome of a conditional event. "Would" can also be used in this context with more of a counterfactual meaning:

Father thinks [it will / it'll] cost a lot of money to fix. [This type of damage is always expensive.]

Father thinks [it would / it'd] cost a lot of money to fix. [We're probably not going to pursue the repair.]

(The use of "will" and "would" for conditional sentences is discussed here with examples.)

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