Difference between: Could, Would, and Should

These are auxiliary verbs, to depict mood or tense of other verbs. Some other auxiliary verbs are can, will, shall, may etc. The use of could, would and should is a little bit difficult for people to understand so, let’s have a look at how this works:

Would

It is the past of ‘Will’. We use ‘would’ for a lot of purposes such as:

• To talk about the past

E.g. Even as a boy, he knew that he would succeed in life.

• To talk about future in the past

E.g. In London she met the man that she would one day marry.

• Express the conditional mood

E.g. If I had millions dollars, I would give a lot to charity.

• Express desire

E.g. I would love to live here.

• Polite requests and questions

E.g. Would you open the door, please?

• Opinion or hope

E.g. I would have to agree.

• Wish and regret

E.g. I wish you would stay.

Could

It is the past of can; we use it for purposes such as:

• To talk about possibilities and abilities to do things in the past

E.g. I could swim when I was seven years old.

• To make requests

E.g. Could tell me where this lane is, please?

Should

It is the past of ‘Shall’. We use it for purposes such as:

• Give advice or make recommendations

E.g. You should try to lose weight.

• Talk about obligation

E.g. You should be wearing your seat belt.

• Talk about probability and expectation

E.g. Are you ready? The car should be here soon.

• Express the conditional mood

E.g. If I lost my job, I should have no money.

• Replace a subjunctive structure

E.g. The boss insists that you should attend this meeting.

We hope you will now be able to pick the correct option between could, would and should next time.