The topic explained
Uses of will
- I can use will and would to express attitude.
Method acting: pick the right form of will
Read an online article about method acting. Choose the correct forms to complete the text. Then summarise it in two sentences.
How does the actor prepare for a role?
What impact does the preparation have on home life?
What happened last year? Say why.
Six uses of will, six sentences to match
Add examples a–f from the interview to the different uses of will in 1–6.
| uses of will | examples |
|---|---|
| 1 Certainty | It’s seven o’clock. They’ll be at the theatre by now. |
| 2 Typical behaviour | Every evening, he’ll shut himself into his study and spend an hour going over his lines. |
| 3 Behaviour that is surprising | He will leave his books all over the floor after he’s been trying to find something. |
| 4 Insistence | He will take on these difficult roles. |
| 5 Insistence as part of a conditional | If he will come home late, what can he expect? |
| 6 Replaces refuse in the present tense | He won’t accept any advice on the matter. |
a He’ll research his character thoroughly.
b He will bring his character home with him.
c If he will keep accepting the sorts of parts he does, …
d That quote will be from a director of the play.
e He won’t discuss new projects in the early stages.
f He’ll adopt unusual habits.
WHAT’S THE METHOD?
It’s highly likely that you ___ (’ll hear / are hearing) the term ‘method acting’ bandied about in connection with some big-name actors.
The truth is that the term ___ (will mean / will have meant) different things to different people.
You ___ (’ll see / ’ll have seen) recent dramatic reports of actors insisting on maintaining their character off-screen as well as on.
This is something we’ll ___ (probably be seeing / have been seeing) a lot more of.
Then summarise it in two sentences.
Will vs would
Will or would: which examples can change?
Study Watch Out! In pairs, look at the different uses of will in Exercise 3 and decide in which examples will could be replaced by would to talk about the past.
In which examples a–f can will be replaced by would to talk about the past?
WATCH OUT!
Whose attitude? And softening with would
- As many of the uses of will presented in Exercise 3 express the attitude of the speaker, it is more common to find them referring to someone else and not the speaker himself/herself, e.g.,
- He will scroll through messages when I’m trying to talk to him.
Rewrite with will or would: eight sentences
Rewrite these sentences using will or would.
1 Harry’s bound to be exhausted because he works so hard.
2 My hope is for Darcy to get into drama school this autumn.
3 I’m sure they’re at the restaurant now.
4 Lauren refuses to have fresh flowers backstage.
5 Before the play, she always walks up and down the corridor repeating her lines.
6 That’s my signature on the programme.
7 I know he’s waiting in the wings just about to go on stage at this moment.
8 I used to call my grandmother every night at 9 to wish her good night.
Fact or irritation: what the stress changes
Using word stress, we can change a statement of fact into an expression of irritation. Listen to the sentences from Exercise 4. Decide which of them express a fact (F) and which express irritation (I). In pairs, discuss what makes the difference.
In pairs, discuss what makes the difference.
He will bring his character home with him!
He’ll adopt unusual habits and stay up all night sometimes!
He would say that!
Rowan would be out of the house 18 hours a day training.
an actor you really like whose performances are very convincing, and how he/she makes them so realistic.
a TV programme you would never miss when you were a child. Say why.
something that annoys you about the way a certain actor performs. Say why.
Grammar Reference: uses of will
Grammar Reference: uses of will, nine printed examples
We use will to talk about:
| certainty | We know Eric will be cooking when we arrive. |
| deductions | A: Why aren’t they here yet? B: Don’t worry. They’ll have been working late. They’ll have got stuck in traffic. They will be sitting in a traffic jam. |
| typical behaviour | Every afternoon my parents will spend at least 20 minutes discussing the current political situation. It’s five o’clock. Eliza and Brandon will be having their afternoon tea. |
| typical behaviour that is irritating | He will leave his schoolbag on the floor after he’s come back from school. |
| insistence | She will scroll through photos when we’re together. If he will come home late, what can he expect? |
| spontaneous decisions made at the moment of speaking | Don’t worry, I’ll help you do this assignment. |
| predictions or promises in the future | It will be a fantastic opportunity to finally meet the writer. My dad will probably be fixing his bike. By next month, my grandparents will have finished renovating their house. |
- Will not (won’t) replaces refuse in the present tense: He won’t help his sister do her homework.
- We use will + have + Past Participle to express presumptions about the past.
- As you will have noticed, the report contains some factual mistakes. (You have probably noticed./I’m sure you have noticed.)
Which use of will is shown by: Every afternoon my parents will spend at least 20 minutes discussing the current political situation?
Which use of will is shown by: Don’t worry, I’ll help you do this assignment?
What does will not (won’t) replace in the present tense?
Uses of would
Grammar Reference: five jobs for would
Would is used:
| in conditional sentences, to talk about hypothetical situations in the present or in the past | If I were you, I would join the choir. If we had known about the weather, we would have brought coats. |
| in reported speech when the reporting verb is in the past form to report will | He promised he would come to see us. |
| to talk about predictions or promises made in the past for what was then the future | It would be a fantastic opportunity to finally meet the writer. We knew Oliver would be cooking when we arrived. By the following month, my grandparents would have finished renovating their house. |
| in certain expressions: would like, would prefer, would rather | We’d like to order two pizzas. I would prefer to stay at home this evening. I would prefer it if you didn’t work so much. She’d rather stay at home this evening. They’d rather you didn’t work so much. |
When is would used in reported speech?
What do we use would + have + Past Participle for?
Willingness and unwillingness
Willing, unwilling, softer: will, would, won’t, wouldn’t
To express our willingness to do something, we use will and would. The meaning is similar to (don’t) want to.
- We use won’t/wouldn’t to express unwillingness.
- I will call you as soon as I have more news. Would you lend me your car, please?
- She won’t listen to me anymore. He wouldn’t even eat dinner with us.
Which words express unwillingness?
Would is also used to ___ or distance a statement, opinion or hope.
