Avoiding too many "would" for past habits and actions

kid009

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Hello Dear forum,

I don't want to use 'used to' and want to use 'would' but I am describing many past habits. If I replace some with simple past, will it require to put adjectives like usually, sometimes, etc with all the sentences? Thanks
 

EmmaSohan

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I need an example. ("Would is used for future of the past, I'm not sure how it replaces "used to")
 

Sage

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Yep, I'm confused too. Can you give us more info?
 
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ValerieJane

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If I may, I think the OP is referring to something like:

"My dad used to always tell us stories."
vs.
"My dad would always tell us stories."

My examples above do use the word 'always' to modify--are you asking if you must use a modifier if you're going to use 'would'?
 

blacbird

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If I may, I think the OP is referring to something like:

"My dad used to always tell us stories."
vs.
"My dad would always tell us stories."

Why not just say "My dad told us stories."?

Point being that it may be possible to replace many of the "would/used to" constructions with simple past tense.

caw
 

Sage

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So funny, but I just read a beta note where I used a "would" and the beta suggested "used to."

However, I have no idea how to explain why either one is preferable to the other, or exactly what the OP is asking (but ValerieJane may have it; I did not use an adverb in my real-life example)
 

Fallen

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If I replace some with simple past, will it require to put adjectives like usually, sometimes, etc with all the sentences? Thanks

It's not a requirement, no. It's up to you. Per blacbird's example:

My dad told us stories (or) Sometimes my dad told us stories (or) My dad sometimes told us stories.
 

Bufty

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There's many, many ways to cover a vague 'sometimes'.

Refer to the specific circumstances instead.

Every Wednesday,
On rainy days,
After supper etc., etc..
 

starrystorm

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Why not just say "My dad told us stories."?

But then again, you have to be careful with wording when the book is in past tense, so the reader knows if it's a flashback or not.

If you do it well, I agree, this would be best.
 

Chase

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In editing manuscripts, I ignore one or even two "would" uses in a long descriptive paragraph. However, this example is where "several cases" appeared:

"Jim would often show anger. He would hyperventilate, then he would lose control and swear while he would throw things."

In such cases, my suggestions are to use alternative wording to avoid unintended repetition:

"Jim often showed anger. He would hyperventilate, then lose control and swear while throwing things."
 

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So funny, but I just read a beta note where I used a "would" and the beta suggested "used to."

However, I have no idea how to explain why either one is preferable to the other, or exactly what the OP is asking (but ValerieJane may have it; I did not use an adverb in my real-life example)

And then, I remembered that I had a scene where I used "would" throughout to describe an event that happened in the past. But I used it in such a way because I wanted to give the reader the impression that this might not exactly be the way any one event went down, but instead the way any event between the two characters involved could have gone down. So I went back to the scene in question, and, sure enough, the POV character starts with a "used to." He used to play this game (he's giving us a for sure scenario that happened) and upon messing the game up, here's what would (maybe/possibly/probably/as an example) happen.

I still don't think this helps the OP (or anyone else because it was my little condition for that scene), but I do find it funny that I did not get what the OP was asking, and even made a point to use it myself :flag: