Using Would

The modal auxiliary would is used in three different contexts:

1. EXPRESSING PREFERENCE:

--I would rather visit Los Angeles. (I"d rather... )

(Would rather means prefer.)

2. EXPRESSING REPEATED ACTION IN THE PAST:

--When she was alive, Aunt Stephanie would visit the West Coast.

(Would is used with regularly repeated actions in the past.)

3. POLITE REQUESTS

--I would appreciate hearing from you soon.

(Would is frequently used with polite requests.)

When used to express a repeated action in the past, would often takes the place of used to:

--When they were students, they would go skiing every winter.

ALSO:

--When they were students, they used to go skiing every winter.

However, when used to refers to a situation that existed (but was not necessarily repeated) in the past, would may not serve as a replacement:

--Aunt Stephanie used to live in Chicago.

NOT:

--Aunt Stephanie would live in Chicago.

Would can also be used in conditional sentences:

--If I had more time, I would read the instructions carefully.
 

The Relative Pronouns Whom/Which/That

Follow the same rules for using who(m), which, and that, as you do with other relative pronouns. The only difference is that now these pronouns are functioning as objects:

--The movie that we saw last night was terrible.

--The movie, which we saw last night, was terrible.

For people, you will use either who or whom. Who is usually used instead of whom in colloquial speech, even though it is technically incorrect:

--The person who they saw was sick. (informal)

--The person whom they saw was sick. (formal)

--There"s the driver who the police arrested. (informal)

--There"s the driver whom the police arrested. (formal)
 

Using Should

One of the meanings of the modal auxiliary should is advisability:

--You should leave right now.
--They should fill out this form.

You can also express the same idea using either ought to or had better:

--You ought to leave right now.
(You had better leave....)

--They ought to fill out this form.
(They had better fill out....)

Should and ought to both mean that something is a good idea. Had better is usually stronger, implying a warning of bad consequences.

The negative of should is shouldn"t. Ought to is not usually used in the negative. Often you will hear people pronounce ought to as otta.

Using Gerunds

A gerund is the -ing form of the verb used as a noun. Like nouns, gerunds can be subjects or objects:

SUBJECT GERUND:

--Playing golf is fun.

OBJECT GERUND:

--We"re used to having a lot of fun.

In the second example, the gerund having is the object of the preposition to. This pattern is fairly frequent in English.

By is often used with gerunds to describe how something is done:

--By calling the office, you"ll be able to know what"s going on.

Here are a number of common verbs followed by gerunds:

finish--They finished working at 6 p.m.
stop--I stopped calling you at midnight.
quit--They quit eating for 24 hours.
avoid--You can"t avoid answering the question.
keep (on)--They will keep on studying.
enjoy--My neighbor enjoys walking his dog.
appreciate--She would appreciate hearing from you.
mind--Do they mind selling their car?

NOTE: Go is followed by a gerund in certain idiomatic expressions related to sports and physical activities.

--Did they go shopping yesterday?
--They went sailing at the lake.
--We are going skiing this winter in the Rockies.
 

Using Could

Could is used in two ways in English:

1.) Past ability:

--I can speak English now. I couldn"t when I was a child.

2.) Polite questions:

--Could I borrow your car?
--Could you speak slower?
--Could we check out later?

Note that could is the simple past form of the verb can. The negative form of it is couldn"t (could not).