Modul Guru Pembelajar Bahasa Inggris Kelompok Kompetensi Profesional B
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I used to live in Melbourne when I was a kid. Not: I would live in Melbourne when I was a kid.
WILLINGNESS IN THE PAST
We use would to talk about willingness in past time situations. We usually use the negative form
wouldn’t in this case: The CD wasn’t working so I brought it back to the shop but they
wouldn’t give me my money back because they said the box had already been opened.
BEING LESS DIRECT
We often use would with verbs such as advise, imagine, recommend, say, suggest, think to make what we say less direct.
Tabel 8 Verbs After Would
advise I
’d advise you to keep working on your grammar.
imagine I
’d imagine it can’t be easy for you.
recommend I
’d recommend that you try this size. formal
say I
’d say you are about 40.
suggest We
’d suggest that you take this route. It’s more scenic.
formal think
It’s much further than Dublin, I would think.
WOULD OR WILL?
We can use would as a more formal or polite alternative to will in requests. We often use the phrase would you mind + -ing in polite requests.
Compare:
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Modul Guru Pembelajar Bahasa Inggris Kelompok Kompetensi Profesional B
Tabel 9 Interogative Using Will Would Will you give me a wake-up call at 7 am,
please?
Would you mind giving me a wake-up
call at 7 am, please?
Will you excuse me just one second? Would you excuse me just one
second? Using would makes the request more
formal and polite. Will and would can both refer to willingness. We use will for present and
future time and would, usually in the negative, for past time:
John will carry your suitcase. It’s far too heavy for you. present The taxi driver wouldn’t take more than four in the car. past
WARNING:
There are a number of phrases with would where will cannot be used:
Would you like your steak well cooked?
Not: Will you like your steak well cooked?
Would you mind introducing me to him?
Not: Will you mind introducing me to him?
Would you rather pay by credit card?
Not: Will you rather pay by credit card?
5. SHALL SHALL: FORMS
AFFIRMATIVE FORM
Shall comes first in the verb phrase after the subject and before another verb. We use it mostly with I and we:
I shall post it to you tomorrow.
Shall cannot be used with another modal verb:
I shall have to be at the airport by 5 pm.
Not: I shall must be … or I must shall be …
Modul Guru Pembelajar Bahasa Inggris Kelompok Kompetensi Profesional B
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We shall have to tell him what happened. The good news is I shall be able to join you at your meeting next
week.
NEGATIVE FORM
The negative form of shall is shan’t. We don‘t use don’t, doesn’t, didn’t with
shall:
I shan’t be home tomorrow night. We shan’t know the result of the tests till Tuesday.
We can use the full form shall not in formal contexts or when we want to emphasis something:
[a public notice in a restaurant]
The management shall not be responsible for damage to personal
property. We don‘t often use the negative form
QUESTION FORM
The subject and shall change position to form questions. Warning:
We don‘t use do, does, did. The question form, with I and we, is the most common use of shall:
Shall I come round to the office?
Not: Do I shall come round to the office? We use shall in question tags:
I’ll phone you later, shall I?
SHALL: USES OFFERS, SUGGESTIONS AND ADVICE
We use shall I and shall we to make offers and suggestions, and to ask for advice.
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Modul Guru Pembelajar Bahasa Inggris Kelompok Kompetensi Profesional B
Tabel 10 The Meaning of Shall offer
Shall I carry your bag? suggestion
Shall I call again on Thursday? seeking advice
What shall we do with this?
PREDICTIONS AND INTENTIONS
We use shall instead of will with I and we in rather formal contexts to make predictions and to talk about intentions or decisions. It is much less
common than will. Compare:
Tabel 11 Shall Will formal
less formal We shall remember this day
forever. We will remember this day
forever.
WARNING:
We use shall only with the first person pronouns I and we to make predictions or express intentions:
The new business cards will be ready at the end of the month.
Not: The new business cards shall be ready at the end of the month.
COMMANDS
Warning: In very formal contexts, we use shall to give commands:
[public notice]
This door shall be kept closed at all times.
SHALL: TYPICAL ERROR
We use should, not shall, for advice and suggestions:
In my opinion, we should book another hotel.
Not: In my opinion, we shall book another hotel.
Modul Guru Pembelajar Bahasa Inggris Kelompok Kompetensi Profesional B
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6. SHOULD SHOULD: FORMS
AFFIRMATIVE FORM
Should comes first in the verb phrase after the subject and before another verb:
I should go home now. Should cannot be used with another modal verb:
It should probably be sunny at that time of year.
Not: It should may be sunny … or It may should be sunny …
NEGATIVE FORM
The negative form of should is shouldn’t. We don‘t use don’t, doesn’t, didn’t
with should:
There shouldn’t be many people at the beach today.
We use the full form should not in formal contexts or when we want to emphasis something:
We should not forget those who have given their lives in the
defence of freedom.
QUESTION FORM
The subject and should change position to form questions.
WARNING:
We don‘t use do, does, did:
Should I turn on the air conditioning?
Not: Do I should I turn on the air conditioning?
Shouldn’t you be studying now? We use should and shouldn’t in question tags:
I shouldn’t have told her that, should I? They should be getting back on Sunday, shouldn’t they?
