At the outset let me clarify that there is no exact/one-to-one replacement of modal verb “would” in Gujarati.

In English, “would” is used in different ways to indicate different shades of meaning. Depending on the type of sentences are formed differently in Gujarati.

Generally “would” is used in these type of sentences:

  • To talk about the past
  • In place of “Used to” phrase
  • To talk about unreal situations
  • Conditional sentences
  • For politeness

Let’s see how sentences are formed differently in Gujarati.

To talk about the past

would and wouldn’t are the past tense of will and won’t.
A popular use is in direct and reported speech.

e.g.
(direct speech) Kaushik said, “I will eat”.
(reported speech) Kaushik said that he would eat.

In Gujarati sentence will be created as if using “will” instead of “would”.
Kaushik said, “I will eat”. -> કૌશિકે કહ્યું, “હું ખાઈશ” ( kaushike kahyuM, “huM khAIsh”)
Kaushik said that he would eat. -> Kaushik said that he will eat. -> કૌશિકે કહ્યું કે એ ખાશે ( kaushike kahyuM ke e khAshe)

Another example
I thought I would be late so I would have to run. ->I thought I will be late so I will have to run.
મને લાગ્યું કે મને મોડું થશે એટલે મારે દોડવું પડશે (mane lAgyuM ke mane moDuM thashe eTale mAre doDavuM paDashe)

Conditional sentences

e.g. If you had gone then I would have gone as well.
Had he eaten well you he would have become healthier?

Such sentences are discussed in details in this lesson
Sentence using “If-Then” in Gujarati

To talk about unreal situations

Such sentences are said in Gujarati as if saying “If-then” kind of sentence but without saying words if-then i.e.જો-તો. So we can prepare sentence using “would have” instead of “would” and accordingly translate it in Gujarati.

Consider sentence “I would love to visit New York”
Converting into If-then

If xyz had happened then I would have loved to visit New York -> જો xyz થયું હોત તો મને ન્યૂયોર્ક જવું ગમ્યું હોત ( jo thayuM hot to mane nyUyork javuM gamyuM hot)

So considering only second part by omitting જો-તો, we will get translation of original sentence.
I would love to visit New York. -> મને ન્યૂયોર્ક જવું ગમ્યું હોત ( mane nyUyork javuM gamyuM hot)

2) We would go, but we are too busy.

If xyz had happened then we would have gone, but we are too busy.
જો xyz થયું હોત તો આપણે ગયાં હોત, પણ આપણે બહુ વ્યસ્ત છીએ (jo thayuM hot to ApaNe gayAM hot, paN ApaNe bahu vyast ChIe)

So,
We would go, but we are too busy -> આપણે ગયાં હોત, પણ આપણે બહુ વ્યસ્ત છીએ (ApaNe gayAM hot, paN ApaNe bahu vyast ChIe)

3) Did you disclose our secret under pressure ? I would not disclose it in any condition.

Lets focus on “I would not disclose it in any condition”

If xyz had happened then I would not have disclosed -> જો xyz થયું હોત તો મેં કોઈ પણ હાલમાં પ્રગટ કર્યું ન હોત
(jo XYZ thayuM hot to meM koI paN hAlamAM pragaT karyuM na hot)

So,
I would not disclose it in any condition.
મેં કોઈ પણ હાલમાં પ્રગટ કર્યું ન હોત
(meM koI paN hAlamAM pragaT karyuM na hot)

For If-then kind of sentences refer lesson mentioned above.

In place of “Used to” phrase

Such sentence formation is thoroughly discussed in
Sentence using “Used to” phrase in Gujarati

For politeness

Gujarati sentences should be created by using “will” instead of “would”

Would you like to drink tea ? ->
Will you like to drink tea -> તમને ચા પીવી ગમશે ? (tamane chA pIvI gamashe ?)

Would you please help me ->
Will you please help me -> કૃપા કરીને મને મદદ કરશો? (kRupA karIne mane madad karasho?)

I would suggest you to take this medicine->
I will suggest you to take this medicine-> હું તમને આ દવા લેવાની સલાહ આપીશ ( huM tamane A davA levAnI salAh ApIsh )

Listen this lesson online