Which would you prefer?

This will be the first in a series of Quick Tips to Improve Speaking.

In many tests of English fluency, you may be asked a hypothetical question … that is, about  a situation that has not actually happened. You might think that because this situation has not yet happened, you should use the future tense, but this is not true.

Let’s say the question is: Which would you prefer, to live in a large city or in a small town? It’s possible that if you already live in one or the other, you might answer something like: I really love living in a large city because it’s so exciting and interesting. But usually you will answer this as a hypothetical question, as if the situation has not yet occurred.

First of all, to start your response, it is helpful to frame your answer with an “if” clause. Although this situation has not yet happened, you use a past tense verb. For example, If I lived in a large city … or If I had to choose whether to live in a large city or small town …  In other words, you do not say something like: If I choose to live in a large city … or If I live in a small town …

Many lower-level speakers use the words can or will in their response, but these do not sound really fluent. We usually don’t say things like:

In a big city, I can go out to a new restaurant every night.

In a small town, I will take lots of walks in the country.

The best words to use are could or would. So, for example:

In a big city, I could go out to a new restaurant every night.

In a small town, I would take lots of walks in the country

What’s the difference? Could implies possibility; would is more definite. You can think of these as forms of can and will that are more appropriate in a hypothetical question.