use of would in statements

Question

what is the difference between "I would go to the cinema but I have no money" and

"I would have gone to the cinema but I had no money"

I know that one is present tense and one is past perfect but can't find reference to them. Is it not possible to use would in the present tense?

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/229520/use-of-subjunctive-form/229537#229537 — Blessed Geek, Sep 13 '15 at 08:18
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/272870/the-use-of-seeks-and-sought/272890#272890 — Blessed Geek, Sep 13 '15 at 08:21
RELATED: 1. past perfect + would have + ed-participle / past simple + would + infinitive 2. Difference between “would have + past participle” and “would + bare infinitive”... — Mari-Lou A, Sep 13 '15 at 18:27

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 14 '15 at 21:20

1

"I would go..." today, but I'm broke right now, so instead I'm answering forum questions.

"I would have gone..." yesterday but I was broke then as well.

The first case describes a past situation which could be different today.

answered Sep 14 '15 at 21:20

MathAdam

823

rogermue · Answer 2 · 2015-09-13T15:37:58.137

The verb forms "would do" and "would have done" (would + infinitive present or infinitive perfect) are a bit neglected because they are not considered a tense, but a mood for unreality).

"I would go" refers to present/future time and you would do this only if a certain condition is fulfilled.

I would have gone is the same unreal statement referring to past time.

For practical reasons I call this tense/mood Conditional 1 (C1) and Conditional 2 (C2). En.wikipedia uses the terms present conditional and conditional perfect. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conditional_perfect

use of would in statements

2 Answers2