How to use "would" in this case?
Hello!
I was reading a bbc article about a married teacher and a teenage pupil and a sentence, relating to what the young girl told a police iinteriewer, said: There were a few times when I would go over to his house... and after that things got even more serious.
My question is: why there is "would go" and not" would have gone" as we're talking about an imagined situation in the past?

Thanks!

Question

How to use "would" in this case?
Hello!
I was reading a bbc article about a married teacher and a teenage pupil and a sentence, relating to what the young girl told a police iinteriewer, said: There were a few times when I would go over to his house... and after that things got even more serious.
My question is: why there is "would go" and not" would have gone" as we're talking about an imagined situation in the past?

Thanks!

Answer

It's not an imagined situation, it's a habitual action in the past.
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-modal-would.htm

Answer

This meaning of "would + verb" means the action happened repeatedly in the past.
"Would have gone" means the the she DID NOT go over to his house, but she did.  it's not an imagined situation.  She really did go there.

Answers · 4

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