Learn English – Would be vs. would have been

conditionals

Which of the following examples is grammatically correct?

  1. There was someone at the door. It WOULD BE the milkman.

  2. There was someone at the door. It WOULD HAVE BEEN the milkman.

If both are possible, do they mean the same thing?

Thank you very much for your kind help.

Paolo

Best Answer

If you hear someone knocking at the door, you can say: That will be the milkman. This is a function of will that Swan (Practical English Usage, p600) describes as "expressing certainty or confidence about present or future situations".

The same applies to past situations. If you told your wife that you were in the shower earlier in the day when you heard someone at the door, she could reply:

That would have been the milkman.

In other words: I am pretty sure (or certain) that it was the milkman.

You could also retain the will in such a context: That will have been the milkman. And possibly even: That would be the milkman. But I see no conditionality in such a response.

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