Learn English – “Why wouldn’t they process?”

grammar

Today I was talking to one of my friends who couldn't process her application. So she told me the following:

I just don't understand. Why wouldn't they process my application? I was only 5 minutes late.

I wonder if the part in bold is a well established English statement. Shouldn't it be:

Why didn't they process my application?

Best Answer

The modal verbs will and would have two senses, like all modals:

  1. the deontic (social -- permission, obligation) sense of 'be willing to', as well as
  2. the epistemic (logical -- possibility, probability) sense of 'be predicted to', which Latinate pedants call "The Future Tense".

Sense 1 is what appears in negative uses of would, and also in the hypothetical uses of both will and would -- i.e, this sense is most common in Negative Polarity contexts, like the NPIs in this puzzle.

  • I won't do it! = I am unwilling to do it!
  • They would not listen to him. = They were not willing to listen to him.
  • If you would see it my way, = If you were willing to see it my way,
  • If she will accept his apology, = If she is willing to accept his apology,
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