PyjamaScientist wrote:
Hi
AndrewN,
I hope you are doing great. I
stumbled upon this SC question during a revision and fell into a
ponder.
Here, many "experts" and "users" have commented on the validity of the word "
would".
The one that caught my attention is this one:
KarishmaB wrote:
"would" is usually used with imaginary situations, especially when the situation is not expected to happen.
If better materials were available, the reactors would be made safer.
Hence, use of "could" is justified here, but "would" is not.
I
believe, we can use "
would" to depict the "expectations" of the journalists. Because, the usage of "would" when stating
expectations about future, which may or may not be fulfilled,
is correct.
Example,
1. "The analysts
expect that after the appointment of the new CEO, the profit margins of the company
would increase". They
expect profits to increase, they are not
sure that the profits will increase, so using
hypothetical "would" is correct. No?
2. In order to
stimulate her child's senses, she
would need to learn more engaging activities.
In both examples, the results may or may be reached (uncertain). Similarly, in the given question, Journalists are
speculating about the safety of nuclear reactors. So, in my opinion, using "would" should not be considered wrong.
There are other issues with (
E) that make it incorrect, such as the absence of "that", which makes it a run-on sentence, and
would and
could be are not parallel. So, I understand why it is incorrect but is the usage of "would" really unwarranted here?
Hello,
PyjamaScientist. You raise an interesting query on language usage and verb tense in particular. I agree with
KarishmaB that
would is, in fact,
typically used in the manner she stated.
In the first of your two sentences, we need to consider
what the analysts expect, and someone expects something
to happen (or not), so
expect profits to increase would be perfectly reasonable, but if we were to swap out the infinitive for a noun clause instead, we would likely see
expect that profits will increase.
Would would more typically be paired with
expected in such a context.
In the second sentence, the adverbial
[in order] to stimulate does not create a timeline, so in isolation, the sentence could go either way:
2.1)
In order to stimulate her child's senses, she would need to learn more engaging activities.The sentence conveys that at some point in the past,
she had to do something, or, alternatively, that some unspecified conditional is playing out:
If she were to stimulate... she would need...2.2)
In order to stimulate her child's senses, she needs/will need to learn more engaging activities.Not to complicate matters, but a simple present
needs could work in the above context as a sort of recommendation for the present.
Will need would clearly project into the future.
Now, in the sentence at hand, we have
journalists surveyed view... but think. Do not be fooled by
surveyed. It is the present-tense
view and the subsequent
think that steers us toward
will [be] as opposed to
would. Focus on just the latter half of the sentence. We can ignore
could, since it is common to all answer choices.
(D)
Journalists think that nuclear power stations will be made safe in the future.(E)
Journalists think that nuclear power stations would be made safe in the future.The safer, more grammatically rooted bet is always going to be (D) here. (E) invokes a conditional that is not at all present on the screen—i.e.
would be made safe... if...I think many native speakers would use the tenses interchangeably, but on a test of grammar, (D) should get the nod.
Thank you for thinking to ask.
- Andrew
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16 Jun 2021, 21:20
