Would užíváme, když popisujeme zvyklosti a zvyky v minulosti: He’d sit for hours reading. Něco dělával, ale už nedělá. V tomto kontextu se také užívá sloveso used to: He used to sit for hours reading. - Celé hodiny sedával a četl. The difference between used to and would: Both are used to talk about things that were true at some time in the past but are not true any more: I used to have a car. I don’t have a car now. When I had a car, I would drive everywhere. Used to is used for both states and repeated actions: I used to live in London. - Kdysi jsem žil v Londýně. Jde o souvislý, permanentní stav. I used to travel by train. - Jezdíval jsem vlakem. Znamená to pravidelně, každé ráno. Would can only be used for actions that were repeated and which the speaker sees as characteristic or habitual: When I was young I would read for hours every evening. - Zamlada (nebo i – jako malý) jsem každý večer hodiny četl.