If you have a pre-intermediate or intermediate class, you may want to teach adverbs with modal verbs. This is what we find in the EGP:
Point 104 in modality at B1 is based on a limited range of adverbs with ‘would’, including ‘really’, ‘probably’, ‘certainly‘ and ‘definitely’ which to some degree clashes with point 30 in the category of adverbs in the mid position as A2.
Point 57 in Modality at B1 overlaps point 104 to some degree. Point 104 is not just about “would” either. Its criteria, however, moves beyond form “modal verb + modal adverb” to usage: “modify an assertion, either through hedging or emphasis.” Although the EGP does not suggest which adverbs can be used for this, we can pick out from their examples: “surely”, “certainly” and “probably“.
How does this selection compare with frequency in native texts?
In the iWeb corpus, the most frequent infinitives found with “would + adverbs“:
On the right, are not the EGP chosen adverbs.
1 WOULD ALSO BE 56301
2 WOULD PROBABLY BE 47350
This collocates 5 sides left and right:
1 BETTER (JJR ) 2180
2 IDEA (NN1 ) 930
3 FINE (JJ ) 619
4 CHOICE (NN1 ) 582
5 EASIER (JJR ) 530
6 EASIEST (JJT ) 337
7 OK (JJ ) 328
8 CHEAPER (JJR ) 292
9 BET (NN1 ) 276
10 WISE (JJ ) 236
3 WOULD STILL BE 43260
4 WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND 43019
5 WOULD NEVER HAVE 34331
6 WOULD ALSO LIKE 26412
7 WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND 24515
Notice that “would highly recommend” is almost twice as frequent.
8 WOULD NEVER BE 21657
9 WOULD OTHERWISE BE 19900
10 WOULD LIKELY BE 17821
11 WOULD THEN BE 16963
12 WOULD REALLY LIKE 16675
This is mostly “I would like” meaning “want”.
13 WOULD JUST BE 16349
14 WOULD PROBABLY HAVE 14350
This point is mostly followed by past participle.
15 WOULD ALSO HAVE 13097
16 WOULD NORMALLY BE 12481
17 WOULD RATHER HAVE 12336
18 WOULD STILL HAVE 11431
19 WOULD JUST LIKE 10499
20 WOULD CERTAINLY BE 10493
21 WOULD ALWAYS BE 10414
22 WOULD DEFINITELY BE 9870
23 WOULD ACTUALLY BE 9019
24 WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE 8675
25 WOULD RATHER BE 8638
26 WOULD SOON BE 7691
27 WOULD NEVER DO 7532
28 WOULD OTHERWISE HAVE 7192
29 WOULD LIKELY HAVE 6931
30 WOULD NOW BE 6901
31 WOULD ALSO MAKE 6315
32 WOULD EVER BE 6122
33 WOULD ONLY HAVE 5964
34 WOULD REALLY BE 5708
35 WOULD THEN HAVE 5598
36 WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE 5311
37 WOULD LATER BE 5190
38 WOULD NEVER GET 5150
39 WOULD ALSO RECOMMEND 4682
40 WOULD ALSO HELP 4646
41 WOULD LATER BECOME 4557
42 WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND 4532
43 WOULD STILL LIKE 4531
44 WOULD DEFINITELY USE 4436
45 WOULD NEVER KNOW 4389
46 WOULD ALSO NEED 4368
47 WOULD EVENTUALLY BE 4301
48 WOULD ALSO WORK 4084
49 WOULD REALLY LOVE 4065
50 WOULD NEVER GO 4020
51 WOULD CERTAINLY HAVE 3998
52 WOULD NEVER WANT 3932
53 WOULD EVEN BE 3914
54 WOULD RATHER SEE 3885
55 WOULD SIMPLY BE 3875
56 WOULD SURELY BE 3728
57 WOULD JUST HAVE 3650
58 WOULD ALSO SUGGEST 3639
59 WOULD STILL NEED 3601
60 WOULD REALLY HELP 3597
61 WOULD NEVER HAPPEN 3584
62 WOULD NEVER SEE 3491
63 WOULD USUALLY BE 3389
64 WOULD NEVER USE 3369
65 WOULD JUST GO 3363
66 WOULD EVENTUALLY BECOME 3351
67 WOULD EVER HAVE 3271
68 WOULD ALSO ADD 3234
69 WOULD ONLY BE 3226
70 WOULD ONLY NEED 3213
71 WOULD THEREFORE BE 3085
72 WOULD ALSO ALLOW 3062
73 WOULD ALREADY BE 3045
74 WOULD INDEED BE 2953
75 WOULD NORMALLY HAVE 2943
76 WOULD PROBABLY MAKE 2917
77 WOULD ONLY TAKE 2884
78 WOULD ALSO LOVE 2869
79 WOULD PROBABLY WORK 2854
80 WOULD PROBABLY DO 2821
81 WOULD ONLY MAKE 2820
82 WOULD PROBABLY TAKE 2760
83 WOULD PROBABLY GET 2741
84 WOULD SURELY HAVE 2698
85 WOULD ALWAYS HAVE 2688
86 WOULD CERTAINLY RECOMMEND 2687
87 WOULD JUST MAKE 2686
88 WOULD PROBABLY GO 2648
89 WOULD TYPICALLY BE 2617
90 WOULD JUST GET 2611
91 WOULD EVER WANT 2550
92 WOULD DEFINITELY BUY 2540
93 WOULD JUST SAY 2508
94 WOULD ONLY GET 2498
95 WOULD NEVER SAY 2473
96 WOULD OBVIOUSLY BE 2469
97 WOULD ALSO INCLUDE 2423
98 WOULD DEFINITELY GO 2407
99 WOULD ALSO GIVE 2387
100 WOULD OFTEN BE 2366
In the iWeb corpus, the most frequent infinitives found with “would + the EGP adverbs”:
1 WOULD REALLY LIKE 16692
2 WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE 8799
3 WOULD REALLY BE 5828
4 WOULD REALLY LOVE 4179
5 WOULD REALLY HELP 3677
6 WOULD REALLY HAVE 1388
7 WOULD REALLY MAKE 1369
8 WOULD REALLY RECOMMEND 1158
9 WOULD REALLY ENJOY 1081
10 WOULD REALLY WANT 1041
11 WOULD REALLY NEED 755
12 WOULD REALLY BENEFIT 632
13 WOULD REALLY PREFER 546
14 WOULD REALLY WORK 531
15 WOULD REALLY GET 479
16 WOULD REALLY DO 385
17 WOULD REALLY SUCK 356
18 WOULD REALLY TAKE 354
19 WOULD REALLY DEPEND 302
20 WOULD REALLY ENCOURAGE 290
1 WOULD PROBABLY BE 47320
2 WOULD PROBABLY HAVE 14407
3 WOULD PROBABLY MAKE 2921
4 WOULD PROBABLY WORK 2886
5 WOULD PROBABLY DO 2832
6 WOULD PROBABLY TAKE 2788
7 WOULD PROBABLY GET 2756
8 WOULD PROBABLY GO 2668
9 WOULD PROBABLY NEED 2323
10 WOULD PROBABLY SAY 2211
11 WOULD PROBABLY WANT 1921
12 WOULD PROBABLY USE 1410
13 WOULD PROBABLY LOOK 1285
14 WOULD PROBABLY HELP 1275
15 WOULD PROBABLY LIKE 1074
16 WOULD PROBABLY END 1066
17 WOULD PROBABLY GIVE 1043
18 WOULD PROBABLY FIND 997
19 WOULD PROBABLY AGREE 967
1 WOULD CERTAINLY BE 10558
2 WOULD CERTAINLY HAVE 4033
3 WOULD CERTAINLY RECOMMEND 2694
4 WOULD CERTAINLY MAKE 1528
5 WOULD CERTAINLY HELP 1399
6 WOULD CERTAINLY LIKE 746
7 WOULD CERTAINLY USE 725
8 WOULD CERTAINLY CONSIDER 463
9 WOULD CERTAINLY GIVE 463
10 WOULD CERTAINLY TAKE 437
11 WOULD CERTAINLY DO 425
12 WOULD CERTAINLY GO 405
13 WOULD CERTAINLY SEEM 389
14 WOULD CERTAINLY EXPLAIN 373
15 WOULD CERTAINLY WANT 366
16 WOULD CERTAINLY GET 353
17 WOULD CERTAINLY AGREE 340
18 WOULD CERTAINLY LOVE 307
19 WOULD CERTAINLY WORK 306
20 WOULD CERTAINLY APPRECIATE 301
1 WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND 24661
2 WOULD DEFINITELY BE 10009
3 WOULD DEFINITELY USE 4480
4 WOULD DEFINITELY BUY 2556
5 WOULD DEFINITELY GO 2421
6 WOULD DEFINITELY HAVE 2273
7 WOULD DEFINITELY STAY 1927
8 WOULD DEFINITELY MAKE 1457
9 WOULD DEFINITELY DO 1414
10 WOULD DEFINITELY SAY 1313
11 WOULD DEFINITELY LIKE 1250
12 WOULD DEFINITELY HELP 1102
13 WOULD DEFINITELY CONSIDER 1078
14 WOULD DEFINITELY WANT 1038
15 WOULD DEFINITELY GET 1036
16 WOULD DEFINITELY ORDER 989
17 WOULD DEFINITELY SUGGEST 827
18 WOULD DEFINITELY TAKE 822
19 WOULD DEFINITELY PURCHASE 800
20 WOULD DEFINITELY TRY 790
Some EGP examples:
- In my opinion, if you decided to go to a large school in the centre of town, you would certainly meet a lot of cool people and you‘d probably find it great.
- Moreover, in my opinion, it would probably be the best idea to choose the biggest school.
- I would definitely choose to live by the seaside!