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Let's say you want to ask someone for help, you describe your issue, and then add:

Any help would be appreciated.

? Or "is appreciated"? Or "will be"? Any other way?

"is appreciated" probably sounds too premature (?), because the person might end up not helping you. "will be" probably sounds like an obligation to say "thank you", praise or award. The way it sounds to me, but I'm not a native speaker.

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"Any help would be appreciated" is probably the most natural and idiomatic way of making this point.

As you suggested, "is" does indeed sound premature. I'm not sure I understand your last sentence, but "will be" isn't too bad here. It does sound a little bit presumptuous in the sense that it creates more of an assumption that help "will" be provided, whereas "would be" doesn't assume that anything will be offered. But this effect is very slight. In any case, "would be" is very common, so just go with that.

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  • Actually I had a thought that present tense can be used as some sort of simplification, or making it more informal. E.g. here they use present tense: "Comments are most welcome and appreciated." A bit different phrase, but still... Maybe it's a simpler way to say: "Comments are most welcome and would be appreciated." And in a similar manner one might use present tense in my case, but "would be" probably will be more correct.
    – x-yuri
    Dec 13, 2021 at 2:20
  • Yeah, good point. "Help is appreciated" isn't terrible or anything, just sounds a bit unusual. Note the difference from the case with "welcome." It isn't premature to say "comments are welcome," because something can be welcome before it is received. Appreciation, on the other hand, is typically reserved until later - i.e., after something has been received!
    – cruthers
    Dec 13, 2021 at 3:19

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