Would

Would has various different uses:

• politeness

  • Would you like to have a coffee?

  • Would you mind introducing customer information to us?

• Past, to talk about repeated events

  • When I was young I would go swimming every Saturday.

  • When I was head of department I would have meetings every day.

• Hypothetical situations

  • What would you say if you met Barack Obama?

  • I think it would be helpful to the treasury department.

  • If I lived in New York, I would have much more chance of meeting famous people.