Would vs Do - What's the difference?
would | do |
(lb) As a past-tense form of (will).
#(lb) Wished, desired (something).
#(lb) Wanted to ( + bare infinitive).
#*1852 , James Murdock, trans. Johann Lorenz Mosheim, Institutes of Ecclesiastical History , II.7.iii:
#*:The Greeks, especially those who would be thought adepts in mystic theology, ran after fantastic allegories.
#Used to; was or were habitually accustomed to ( + bare infinitive); indicating an action in the past that happened repeatedly or commonly.
#*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=No matter how early I came down, I would' find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man ' would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.}}
#*2009 , "Soundtrack of my life", The Guardian , 15 March:
#*:When we were kids we would sit by the radio with a tape recorder on a Sunday, listening out for the chart songs we wanted to have.
#Used with bare infinitive to form the "anterior future", indicating a futurity relative to a past time.
#*1867 , (Anthony Trollope), (w) , Ch.28:
#*:That her Lily should have been won and not worn, had been, and would be, a trouble to her for ever.
#*
#*:Thanks to that penny he had just spent so recklessly [on a newspaper] he would pass a happy hour, taken, for once, out of his anxious, despondent, miserable self. It irritated him shrewdly to know that these moments of respite from carking care would not be shared with his poor wife, with careworn, troubled Ellen.
#*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 5, author=Phil Dawkes, work=BBC Sport
, title= #(lb) Used with ellipsis of the infinitive verb, or postponement to a relative clause, in various senses.
#*1724 , (Daniel Defoe), , Penguin p.107:
#*:He sat as one astonish'd, a good-while, looking at me, without speaking a Word, till I came quite up to him, kneel'd on one Knee to him, and almost whether he would or no, kiss'd his Hand.
#*1846 , "A New Sentimental Journey", Blackwoods Magazine , vol.LX, no.372:
#*:If I could fly, I would away to those realms of light and warmth – far, far away in the southern clime.
#Was determined to; loosely, could naturally have been expected to (given the tendencies of someone's character etc.).
#*1835 , (Charles Dickens), (Sketches by Boz) , V:
#*:Then he took to breeding silk-worms, which he would bring in two or three times a day, in little paper boxes, to show the old lady.
#*2009 , "Is the era of free news over?", The Observer ,
#*:The free access model, the media magnate said last week, was "malfunctioning". Well he would , wouldn't he?
(lb) As a modal verb, the subjunctive of will.
#Used to give a conditional or potential "softening" to the present; might, might wish.
#*2008 , Mark Cocker, "Country Diary", The Guardian , 3 November:
#*:It's a piece of old folklore for which I would love to find hard proof.
#Used as the auxiliary of the simple conditional modality (with a bare infinitive); indicating an action or state that is conditional on another.
#*2010 , The Guardian , 26 February:
#*:Warnock admitted it would be the ideal scenario if he received a Carling Cup winners' medal as well as an England call-up.
#
#*1859 , (John Bunyan), (w, The Pilgrim's Progress) ,
#*:I presently wished, would' that I had been in their clothes! '''would''' that I had been born Peter! ' would that I had been born John!
#*1868 , Sir (Walter Scott), (Ivanhoe) , Ch.23:
#*:I would she had retained her original haughtiness of disposition, or that I had a larger share of Front-de-Bœuf's thrice-tempered hardness of heart!
#Used to impart a sense of hesitancy or uncertainty to the present; might be inclined to. Now sometimes colloquially with ironic effect.
#*2009 , Nick Snow, The Rocket's Trail , p.112:
#*:“Those trials are being run by the American army so surely you must have access to the documents?” “Well, yeah, you’d think.”
#*2010 , (Terry Pratchett), "My case for a euthanasia tribunal", The Guardian ,
#*:Departing on schedule with the help of a friendly doctor was quite usual. Does that still apply? It would seem so.
#Used interrogatively to express a polite request; are (you) willing to …?
#:
#
#*1608 , (William Shakespeare), (King Lear) , I.4:
#*:What dost thou professe? What would’st thou with vs?
(auxiliary)
(auxiliary)
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.}}
(auxiliary)
* , chapter=7
, title= (auxiliary)
To perform; to execute.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
, volume=189, issue=2, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= (obsolete) To cause, make (someone) (do something).
* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), ''(The Faerie Queene), II.vi:
* W. Caxton
* Spenser
* Bible, 2 Cor. viii. 1
(transitive) To suffice.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.}}
* 1922 , (Margery Williams), (The Velveteen Rabbit)
To be reasonable or acceptable.
To have (as an effect).
To fare; to succeed or fail.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (chiefly in questions) To have as one's job.
To cook.
* ,
, passage=It seemed, from his account, that he was very good at doing scrambled eggs.}}
* {{quote-news, 1944, , , News from the Suburbs, Punch
, passage=We went down below, and the galley-slave did some ham and eggs, and the first lieutenant, who was aged 19, told me about Sicily, and time went like a flash.}}
* {{quote-book, 2005, Alan Tansley, The Grease Monkey, page=99, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=V63jCdQpv2kC&pg=PA99
, passage=Next morning, they woke about ten o'clock, Kev, went for a shower while Alice, did some toast, put the kettle on, and when he came out, she went in.}}
To travel in, to tour, to make a circuit of.
* {{quote-book, 1869, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, edition=1957 ed., page=, pageurl=
, passage=We 'did ' London to our heart's content, thanks to Fred and Frank, and were sorry to go away,
* {{quote-book, 1892, James Batchelder, Multum in Parvo: Notes from the Life and Travels of James Batchelder, page=97
, passage=After doing Paris and its suburbs, I started for London
* {{quote-news, 1968, July 22, Ralph Schoenstein, Nice Place to Visit, New York Magazine
, passage=No tourist can get credit for seeing America first without doing New York, the Wonderful Town, the Baghdad-on-Hudson, the dream in the eye of the Kansas hooker
To treat in a certain way.
* {{quote-news, 1894, , , , Harper's
, passage=They did me well, I assure you — uncommon well: Bellinger of '84; green chartreuse fit for a prince;
* 1928 , , "The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers", in (Lord Peter Views the Body) ,
* {{quote-book, 1994, Jervey Tervalon, Understand This, page=50
, passage="Why you gonna do me like that?" I ask. "Do what?" "Dog me."}}
To act or behave in a certain manner; to conduct oneself.
* Bible, 2 Kings xvii. 34
To spend (time) in jail.
To impersonate or depict.
(slang) To kill.
* '>citation
* {{quote-book, 2007, E.J. Churchill, page=153, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=ytW6LcwIrXQC&pg=PA153, The Lazarus Code
, passage=The order came and I did him right there. The bullet went right where it was supposed to go.}}
(slang) To have sex with. (See also do it )
* {{quote-book, c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, section=Act IV, scene II, pageurl=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tragedy_of_Titus_Andronicus
, passage=Demetrius'': "Villain, what hast thou done?"
''Aaron'': "That which thou canst not undo."
''Chiron'': "Thou hast undone our mother."
''Aaron : "Villain, I have done thy mother."}}* {{quote-book, 1996, James Russell Kincaid, My Secret Life, page=81, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=q2cQiUtWftwC&pg=PA82
, passage=
* {{quote-book, 2008, On the Line, Donna Hill, page=84
, passage=The uninhibited woman within wanted to do him right there on the countertop, but I remained composed.}}
To cheat or swindle.
* De Quincey
To convert into a certain form; especially, to translate.
(intransitive) To finish.
(UK, dated, intransitive) To work as a domestic servant (with for ).
* 1915 , Frank Thomas Bullen, Recollections
(archaic, dialectal, transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the present progressive of verbs.
* 1844 , William Barnes, Evenén in the Village , Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect:
(stock exchange) To cash or to advance money for, as a bill or note.
(informal) To make or provide.
(colloquial) A party, celebration, social function.
* 2013 , Russell Brand, Russell Brand and the GQ awards: 'It's amazing how absurd it seems' '' (in ''The Guardian , 13 September 2013)[http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/sep/13/russell-brand-gq-awards-hugo-boss]
(informal) A hairdo.
(colloquial, obsolete) A period of confusion or argument. (rfex)
Something that can or should be done (usually in the phrase dos and don'ts ).
(obsolete) A deed; an act.
(archaic) ado; bustle; stir; to-do
* Selden
(obsolete, UK, slang) A cheat; a swindler.
(rare)
As a verb would
is (lb) as a past-tense form of (will) .As a noun do is
the bright time of the day (chiefly in adverbial constructions).would
English
Alternative forms
* (obsolete)Verb
(head)QPR 2-3 Man City, passage=Toure would have the decisive say though, rising high to power a header past Kenny from Aleksandar Kolarov's cross.}}
Usage notes
* As an auxiliary verb, (term) is followed by the bare infinitive (without (to)): *: John said he would have fish for dinner. * (term) is frequently contracted to (term, 'd), especially after a pronoun (as in (term, I'd), (term, you'd), and so on). * The term would-be'' retains the senses of both desire and potentiality (those of ''wannabe'' and ''might-be , respectively). * Indicating a wish, (term) takes a clause in the past subjunctive (irrealis) mood; this clause may or not be introduced with (that). Most commonly in modern usage, it is followed by the adverb rather'', as in ''I would''' rather that he go now''. A call to a deity or other higher power is sometimes interposed after (term) and before the subjunctive clause, as in '''''Would to God that ; see for examples.Synonyms
* (indicating an action in the past that happened repeatedly or commonly ): used to * (used to express a polite request ): be so good as to, kindly, pleaseSee also
* could * should * * (projectlink)do
English
(wikipedia do)Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Verb
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=“I don't know how you and the ‘head,’ as you call him, will get on, but I do know that if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. […]”}}
The tao of tech, passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing ",
- Sometimes to doe him laugh, she would assay / To laugh at shaking of the leaues light, / Or to behold the water worke
- My lord Abbot of Westminster did do shewe to me late certain evidences.
- a fatal plague which many did to die
- We do you to wit [i.e. we make you to know] of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.
- "Here," she said, "take your old Bunny! He'll do to sleep with you!" And she dragged the Rabbit out by one ear, and put him into the Boy's arms.
Welcome to the plastisphere, passage=Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.}}
Three Men In a Boat
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- Upon my word, although he [my host] certainly did me uncommonly well, I began to feel I'd be more at ease among the bushmen.
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- They fear not the Lord, neither do they after the law and commandment.
''Aaron'': "That which thou canst not undo."
''Chiron'': "Thou hast undone our mother."
''Aaron : "Villain, I have done thy mother."}}
citation
- He was not to be done , at his time of life, by frivolous offers of a compromise that might have secured him seventy-five per cent.
- I've left my key in my office in Manchester, my family are at Bournemouth, and the old woman who does for me goes home at nine o'clock.
- ...An' the dogs do''' bark, an' the rooks be a-vled to the elems high and dark, an' the water '''do roar at mill.
- Do they do haircuts there?
- Could you do me a burger with mayonnaise instead of ketchup?
Usage notes
* In older forms of English, when the pronoun thou was in active use and verbs had a distinct second-person singular present-tense form, the verb .Antonyms
* don'tDerived terms
* can do with * do a… * doable * do by * do by halves * do down * doer * do for * do in * do it * do right by * done * do-over * do somebody wrong * do the trick * do time * do up * do well by doing good * do with mirrors * do without * fordo * misdo * redo * overdo * to do with * underdo * undoSee also
Noun
(en noun)- We’re having a bit of a do on Saturday to celebrate my birthday.
- After a load of photos and what-not, we descend the world's longest escalator, which are called that even as they de-escalate, and in we go to the main forum, a high ceilinged hall, full of circular cloth-draped, numbered tables, a stage at the front, the letters GQ, 12-foot high in neon at the back; this aside, though, neon forever the moniker of trash, this is a posh do , in an opera house full of folk in tuxes.
- Nice do !
- (Sir Walter Scott)
- A great deal of do , and a great deal of trouble.
