Could vs. Would

Although both ‘Could’ and ‘Would’ are Auxiliary Verbs in English Grammar and serve to modify the mood of a verb, they often confuse the learners to where and how to use them. To cope with such issue and to get an explicit idea about these Model Verbs, the underlying illustration would be of good help. First of all, we would take ‘Could’ into a discussion. Could is basically a ‘second form of can’ and is used to indicate a capability in the past e.g. ‘I could run faster in my childhood’ or ‘I could catch the thief when I saw him at first’. Hence, it replaces ‘Can’ for the past sentence; however, not only as past, it can be used in place of ‘can’ in the Present Tense to give the phrase a conditional tone such as ‘She could not allow her son to go out in the dark’. Thirdly, ‘Could’ also works to make a request more polite. For example, ‘could you let me know what your intentions are’? On the other hand, ‘Would’ is also a Model Verb and has a differential job. Firstly, it is used to indicate future in the past e.g. ‘She would try to work hard following the example of her brother’. Secondly, ‘Would’ works as the conditional mood of ‘will’ in the conditional sentences such as ‘I would get you a car if you followed my advice’. In a subjunctive case would is utilized to indicate an unreal condition e.g. ‘I would work more efficiently if I were you’. Thirdly, ‘Would’ is used for polite requests but with a questioning tone unlike ‘could’ e.g. ‘Would you like to let me know what had happened’? Moreover, ‘would’ is also used for Future Tense when there is a probability but not complete certainty e.g. ‘He would help you’ [there is a possibility that the third person will help.