Would +grammar teacher
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In "wouldn't it be" "wouldn't" is a contraction of "would it not" why, in your opinion, should it not refer to the future?
euncu
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What would be nice is the idea you have now.
Raymott
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How do you come to that conclusion?
euncu
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Same sentence, a bit rephrased
Wouldn't it be nice to imagine that having companions in the future who will do our drudgery for us?
This is how I understood the sentence. I thought that the sentence was so obvious not to conclude.
Raymott
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I think you're wrong. That's a different sentence with a different meaning.
What would be nice is having companions who will do our drudgery for us. There's no suggestion that the speaker is claiming that it's nice just thinking about that.
If you were correct, the speaker would say "Isn't is nice imagining that ..." not "Wouldn't it be nice ..."
"Wouldn't it be nice ..." is conditional, and the condition hasn't been met yet.
As the original poster rightly says, it refers to the future.
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