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If the sentence is without "would", is it right?

Paul Merson has named three managers who he thinks would be able to win the Premier League title with current the Manchester United squad in a damning critique of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

What if "would be" is replaced with "is"?

Paul Merson has named three managers who he thinks are able to win the Premier League title...

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  • You need some kind of auxiliary verb before the infinitive element be able to [do something]. The word would could be replaced by, for example may, might without significantly changing the meaning, but it's worth noting that those alternatives usually imply rather less certainty than would. On the other hand, replacing it with are or will be conveys effectively absolute certainty, whereas would really just implies very likely in many cases. Also note that would be able to can be entirely replaced by just could.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Oct 7, 2021 at 10:50
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    Does this answer your question? Can "would be able to" be rephrased as "could" every time?
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Oct 7, 2021 at 10:57
  • So the use of would here shows less direct, right? If I replace it with "is", the speaker shows certainty?
    – Co commentator
    Commented Oct 7, 2021 at 11:00
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    Yes, you're correct. We could "justify" conditional would here as referring to the hypothetical condition if they were selected to run the team, but in practice the only real implication of all that extra verbiage and "conditionality" (as opposed to who he thinks can win) is just "hedging" (maybe they could win, maybe they couldn't; there's always a degree of uncertainty in such contexts).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Oct 7, 2021 at 11:14
  • (Note that I had to write who he thinks can win for the more definite / direct version, because who he thinks will win would only work for one manager; they can't all be selected, and all win.)
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Oct 7, 2021 at 11:17

2 Answers 2

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I'm pretty sure the word "would" refers to Paul Merson's 'assumption' that the three managers can win.

Would is used to communicate about a hypothetical or an imagined event, and it is frequently employed when that prospective circumstance will or will not occur. Which the sentence used the word "would" to make an assumption.

With Would

Paul Merson has named three managers who he thinks would be able to win the Premier League title with current the Manchester United squad in a damning critique of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Without would

Paul Merson has named three managers who he thinks might be able to win the Premier League title with current the Manchester United squad in a damning critique of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

  • You would need to use a replacement word to complete the sentence.
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  • So the use of would here shows less direct, right? If I replace it with "is", the speaker shows certainty?
    – Co commentator
    Commented Oct 7, 2021 at 11:01
  • Replace the would in the sentence? If yes, it's grammatically incorrect. Unless you remove the be in "Paul Merson has named three managers who he thinks would (be) able to."
    – CringyLearner
    Commented Oct 7, 2021 at 11:03
  • Yes, I meant what is the difference between would and is? Paul Merson has named three managers who he thinks would be able/is able to win the Premier League title with current the Manchester United squad in a damning critique of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
    – Co commentator
    Commented Oct 7, 2021 at 11:08
  • Sorry, I got busy with something. "Would" is simply an assumption of future events, and "is" is' classified as a kind of verb where it indicates occurrence or a state, or rather just simply a linking verb.
    – CringyLearner
    Commented Oct 7, 2021 at 13:03
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Direct and indirect speech:

This is quite simple.

Direct speech: Paul Merson said, "I am naming three managers I think will be able to win the Premier League title with current the Manchester United squad".

Indirect speech: Paul Merson has named three managers who he thinks would be able to win the Premier League title with current the Manchester United squad in a damning critique of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

will becomes would in indirect speech.

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