[Grammar] A 'would' question

[elisround]

Hello, I'm a new member and would like to post a question I have about the usage of 'would'.

The following two sentences both use would, and it seems to me that they're structured in the form of 2nd conditionals that have omitted the 'if clause'. Is that correct?

1) I would be a ballet dancer.

2) Would you rather to to Paris or New York?

Thank you very much in advance for any help or insight you can give!

 

[philo2009]

Regarding the first: impossible to say without context. It could simply be a fragment of reported speech.

Regarding the second, yes: in principle, any 'would rather' expression can be viewed as deriving from a second conditional (I would rather V, if I could...).

 

[elisround]

Thank you for your reply. That's helpful. And yes, I realize now that the first example definitely needs a context. It was in the context of people talking about their dream job, so I imagined the person omitting something like: If I could have any career, I would be a ballet dancer.

Thanks again!