253. Will and would are used as follows:--
[Sidenote: _Authority as to future action--first person._]
(1) With the FIRST PERSON, _will_ and _would_ are used to express
determination as to the future, or a promise; as, for example,--
I _will_ go myself now, and _will_ not return until all is
finished.--CABLE.
And promised...that I _would_ do him justice, as the sole
inventor.--SWIFT.
[Sidenote: _Disguising a command._]
(2) With the SECOND PERSON, _will_ is used to express command. This
puts the order more mildly, as if it were merely expected action;
as,--
Thou _wilt_ take the skiff, Roland, and two of my people,... and
fetch off certain plate and belongings.--SCOTT.
You _will_ proceed to Manassas at as early a moment as
practicable, and mark on the grounds the works, etc.--_War
Records._
[Sidenote: _Mere futurity._]
(3) With both SECOND AND THIRD PERSONS, _will_ and _would_ are used to
express simple futurity, action merely expected to occur; for
example,--
All this _will_ sound wild and chimerical.--BURKE.
She _would_ tell you that punishment is the reward of the
wicked.--LANDOR.
When I am in town, _you'll_ always have somebody to sit with you.
To be sure, so you _will_.--DICKENS.
(4) With FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD PERSONS, _would_ is used to express a _wish_,--the original meaning of the word _will_; for example,--
[Sidenote: _Subject_ I _omitted: often so._]
_Would_ that a momentary emanation from thy glory would visit
me!--C.B. BROWN.
Thine was a dangerous gift, when thou wast born, The gift of
Beauty. _Would_ thou hadst it not.--ROGERS
It shall be gold if thou _wilt_, but thou shalt answer to me for
the use of it.--SCOTT.
What _wouldst_ thou have a good great man obtain?--COLERIDGE.
(5) With the THIRD PERSON, _will_ and _would_ often denote an action
as customary, without regard to future time; as,
They _will_ go to Sunday schools, through storms their brothers
are afraid of.... They _will_ stand behind a table at a fair all
day.--HOLMES
On a slight suspicion, they _would_ cut off the hands of numbers
of the natives, for punishment or intimidation.--BANCROFT.
In this stately chair _would_ he sit, and this magnificent pipe
_would_ he smoke, shaking his right knee with a constant
motion.--IRVING.
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