EnglishClub ESL Forums

I am learning German while providing English practice for the Germans I speak with.

I expressed the following thought during a conversation: "When I was in the Air Force, I would read Time magazine and write down all the words I didn't know the meaning of."

My German language partner asked, "Why do you use the word 'would' here? Why don't you just say, "When I was in the Air Force, I read [here, in the past tense] Time magazine and wrote down all the words I didn't know the meaning of."

I had no good answer, despite being an educated native English speaker. The expression just sounds better to my ear when I use the word 'would'.

Can anyone explain what the use of the word 'would' imparts in this expression, versus the use of the past tense alone?

Thank you! Rick

Would implies that it is the occasional first choice of action/preference that occurs often.

The statement from your student implies it was a one time action. Would would of given it an occurrence.