英文助動詞Should、Could與Would的用法及之間的差異

提問：「我不太清楚should、could與would之間在使用上有何不同。是否能請您幫忙釐清這幾個助動詞的差異？」

—國立中興大學環境工程系碩士生

回答：

對許多非以英文為母語的人來說，should、could和would確實難以分辨，希望藉由本期文章 能協助您釐清這三個助動詞的使用時機。

當內文涉及建議時，可使用should與shouldn’t

當句子的目的在於請求或給予建議時，可以使用should與shouldn’t表達。例句如下：

A：I’ve had a really bad headache for the past week.
B：That’s not good – you should go to the doctor.

A：I want to write more on my paper, but I don’t know how.
B：First of all, you shouldn’t spend so much time playing games on the computer. You should block daily writing time and join a writing group instead!

A：I had a fight with my Professor. What should I do?
B：Hmm… I think you should call her and tell her you’re sorry.

當內容談到以往的能力，可使用could與couldn’t

Could與couldn’t分別是「can」與「can’t」的過去式。例句如下：

When I was younger, I could run a mile in 7 minutes. Now it takes me 20 minutes!

Yesterday, I couldn’t find my wallet anywhere – but this morning I found it.

Last year, he couldn’t speak English very well, but now he can.

當內容談到未來可能性，可用could表達

以下例句中的could，目的在於表達未來的可能性：

A：Do you have any ideas for our publicity campaign?
B：Yes, I’ve got a few ideas. I could put advertisements on Facebook and Google. We could also give out pamphlets in our neighborhood. Maybe John could even contact local TV stations.

若想得體的提出要求，也可用could表達

例句如下：

Could you please open the window? It’s hot in here.

Could you turn the music down? Thanks.

Could you make 10 copies of this report, please?

當內容談到不實際或難得一見的情境時，可用would與wouldn‘t表達

例句如下：

If I were the president of my company, I would make a lot of changes.

If people were more generous, there wouldn’t be so much poverty in the world today.

She would travel around the world if she had more vacation time.

附註：這類語境中，would常簡化為「’d」。

If I were the president of my company, I’d make a lot of changes.

若想委婉的提出建議，可使用「would you like…」

以下的例句皆使用would you like來提出委婉的建議：

A：Would you like anything to drink?
B：A soda would be great. Thanks!

A：Would you like to join us for dinner?
B：I’d love to, but I actually have other plans tonight.

A：Would you like to see some pictures from my vacation?
B：Sure!

請注意，在should、could與would後請勿加上「to」。

錯誤：You shouldn’t to smoke.
正確：You shouldn’t smoke.

錯誤：We could to order pizza tonight.
正確：We could order pizza tonight.

錯誤：I would to buy a new car if I had the money.
正確：I would buy a new car if I had the money.

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2. 學術論文寫作中使用「as」、「because」或「since」用法
3. 如何區分Could、Might、Should等情態動詞的使用時機？
4. 從語意與贅字的角度，探討英文冠詞a、an、the的正確用法

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