Which is sentence is correct and why? Please provide detail reason.

[Farrukhkamran]

1. We would go down to California
2. We went down to California

Please provide reason which sentence is correct and why? and also please provide detail when we used 'would' .Please provide all details



Thanks

 

[probus]

Both sentences are correct. Which one to use depends on the context and your intended meaning.

"We went down to California" is the simple past, a simple statement of a past action.

"We would go down to California" may be conditional and requires more context. "We would go down to California if it wasn't so far." "We would go down to California if we could afford to." It might also be a form of past continuous, equivalent to "used to". "When the weather at home grew too cold we would go down to California."

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forum, Farrukhkamran.

To be correct, a sentence must end with the appropriate punctuation mark.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello,


1. "I remember the 1990s very well. Every summer we would go to California for our vacation." ["To talk about past habits." -- Michael Swan in Practical English Usage. That sentence is mine, not his.]

2. "I remember 2005 very well. We went to California for our vacation. It was our first time in the Golden State."

I do not understand the use of "down." It seems to be that you would use that word only if you lived above California. For example, if you lived in Canada, then I could understand "I'm going down to California to visit my uncle and aunt in the City of the Angels [Los Angeles]."



James