19 Jul

“Would You Go To School Tomorrow”&”Will You Go To School Tomorrow”?

What is the difference between “would you go to school tomorrow” and “will you go to school tomorrow”?

Grammar is sometimes hard to get. People usually go with their gut when stuck in trying to figure out if a sentence is grammatically correct or not.

Most people do not know the difference between “would you go to school tomorrow” and “will you go to school tomorrow.” They rely on their instinct to figure out which one is better suited for a particular situation. We will help you to know the actual difference between these two sentences. So let us begin.

Both of these sentences are interrogative, i.e., a question is asked from a person. The difference is that in one sentence, the word “will” is used, and in the other, “would” is used. To understand the difference between these two, we will need to first look at the definition of future simple tense and conditional sentences.

 

“Would you go to school tomorrow” and “will you go to school tomorrow”?

Future Simple Tense

Future simple tense is used when one has to express an action that has not happened yet and will occur in the future. The auxiliary verb used in this tense is “will.”

Like all other tenses, this tense also has assertive sentences, negative sentences, and interrogative sentences. The example we are discussing is an interrogative sentence. If we are more precise, the sentence “will you go to school tomorrow?” is an example of a future simple tense interrogative sentence.

Now, to understand the other sentence, we will discuss conditional sentences.

Conditional Sentences

In a conditional sentence, the main clause expresses an action that would occur if a specific condition were fulfilled. This condition is expressed in the if clause.

Conditional sentences have the following types:

 

 

What is the difference between “would you go to school tomorrow” and “will you go to school tomorrow”?

1^st type of Conditional Sentence.

In this type of conditional sentence, the if-clause is in the simple present tense. The word “will” is used in the main clause. An example of this type of sentence is, if she goes to school, I will get her a bar of chocolate.

 

2^nd type of Conditional Sentence.

In the second type of conditional sentence, the if clause, which expresses the condition for the action described in the main clause to occur, is in the simple past tense. The main clause has the word “would” in the second type of conditional sentence. For example, If I found my keys, I would drive you there.

 

3^rd type of Conditional Sentence.

In the third type of conditional sentence, the if-clause, which is used to express the condition for an action to occur, is in the past perfect tense. The main clause has the word “would + have” in this type of conditional sentence. An example of the third type of conditional sentence is, it had found the keys, I would have driven you there.

Our focus is on the second type of conditional sentence as it will help us better understand the sentence “would you go to school tomorrow?”. To be precise, we need to focus on what is an interrogative, conditional sentence of the second type.

An example of an interrogative, conditional sentence.

If Sara came, would you go to school tomorrow?

We need to know one more thing to understand the difference between the sentences, “would you go to school tomorrow” and “will you go to school tomorrow.”

 

 

Would is the past tense of will.

If we use “would” instead of “will,” it expresses something that was in the future when the sentence was stated, but it is not in the future anymore.

For example, Sara said she would check the mail, said John. In this sentence, Sara was supposed to check the mail in some time in the past.

We can now discuss the two sentences.

 

The sentence, “will you go to school tomorrow?”

As we stated before, “will” expresses an action that is supposed to happen in the future. It expresses an action about which it is definite that it will occur in the future. This sentence is interrogative, and it is asked from someone that if he or she will go to the school. The question is direct and does not sound very pleasing.

 

The sentence, “would you go to school tomorrow?”

Keeping in mind the word “would” is used in a conditional sentence of type 2, and this word is also the past tense of the world “will,” in this sentence, the person who is being addressed will feel as if he or she has more liberty to make a decision.

Using the word “would” relates to if you could perform a certain action. Using the word “will” relates to if you can perform a certain action. This is where one realizes the fact the word “would” is the past form of the word “will.”

If you use the word “would,” it implies that there is a prerequisite for an action to occur. Like in the sentence “would you go to school tomorrow?” the addressee will feel as if he or she has all the right to decide. He or she can consider all the possible conditions to decide if the action “going to school” will occur or not.

 

Conclusion

One more way to look at it is considering that the word “would” is the past form of the word “will.” The addressee can think of it as if there were similar circumstances would he or she perform the stated action or not.

To elaborate more, if the conditions were the same at some point in the past, would he or she perform the action or not, the action which was in the future for a particular time, but it is not anymore. And this is a similar situation, so if he or she would still perform the action considering everything.

Using the sentence, “would you go to school tomorrow?” also sound more polite because this gives the addressee more sense of control and authority. Unlike the first sentence, “will you go to school tomorrow?” which is more definite in a sense.

In the end, the type of sentence you choose to state depends on the sense and the meaning you want to convey to the addressee.

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