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At 3:50 minutes of the video, the British girl tells the American one:

When I was at university, it was so common to just like hear it... people think British people are like prudes... I know amongst friends you would talk about that kind of stuff, or you would see it like when you would go out...you would see the interaction before the... I have seen some things (laughs)...

Are the "would"s above all conditional, indicating a general hypothetical situation, for example, (usually in Britain) among friends you would talk about that kind of stuff... (i.e., usually in Britain you would do this, you would do that, etc)?

Or, do the "would"s all mean "used to", for example, when I was at university, amongst friends we used to talk about that kind of stuff...?

Or, are some of the "would"s conditional, and the others simply mean "used to"?

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  • They are past tense of will, which could be paraphrased there as "do", past tense "did". "You will | would [do, did] talk with friends about this sort of thing, but not with strangers". It's an account that begins "When I was at university ..." so I assume the speaker is talking about past experience throughout. I didn't watch the video, BTW.
    – TimR
    Commented yesterday
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    This is very informal dialogue - it's impossible to say definitively which sense of would she means.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented yesterday
  • would is not conditional here at all. It's the past tense of will. I know amongst friends you will talk about that kind of stuff. said in the present. Versus: I know amongst friends you would talk about that kind of stuff. which refers to the past.
    – Lambie
    Commented yesterday

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"When I was at university, it was so common to just like hear it... ((TURNING POINT OF THE TENSE OF THE SPEAKER: FROM THE past TO THE present)) people think british people are like prudes... I know amongst friends you would(imagination) talk about that kind of stuff, or you would(imagination) see it like when you would(imagination) go out...you would(imaginaiton) see the interaction before the... ((TURNING POINT: from the imagination to the the completed fact in terms of the present point)) I have seen some things (laughs)..."

The 'woulds' in the main clauses would be able to be replaced by 'probably'.

They are not in the past but in the subjunctive future or past which means uncertain imagination or the reverse of the present situation.

I know amongst friends you would talk about that kind of stuff.

I know that if you should be amongst your friends, you would talk about that kind of stuff. (subjunctive future)

'should' here implies 'uncertain/improbable imagination'.

or

I know that if you were amongst friends, you would talk about that kind of stuff. (subjunctive past)

At first glace, I thought it would mean subjunctive future but came to realize that it could also be the subjunctive past which means the reverse of the present situation.

Now I think it's more of a subjunctive past than a subjunctive future.

PS. The following is an indicative sentence:

If you are amongst your friends, you will talk about that kind of stuff.

Another PS. The following is a subjunctive present which is rare.

If you be amongst your friends, you will talk about that kind of stuff.

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    That second one with be is total no-go, especialloy be amongst + kind of stuff in the same sentence.
    – Lambie
    Commented yesterday
  • That's true, and yet I think in very rare cases, there could be some usage which is still acceptable or understandable: If it be fine tomorrow, we'll go on a picnic. That said, I am not sure if 'if it be fine tomorrow' is still acceptable.
    – gomadeng
    Commented yesterday
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In the present tense, we'd expect this:

When I am at university, it's so common to just like hear it... people think British people are like prudes... I know amongst friends you will talk about that kind of stuff, or you will see it like when you go out...you will see the interaction before the... I have seen some things (laughs)..."

So putting in would is necessary to make the paragraph about the past.

When I was at university etc.

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