ENGLISH
REFERENCE

who'd

pron.
B1 Intermediate whod

pron. a short way of saying 'who would' or 'who had'. You use it in speaking or casual writing to save time.

pron. a contraction of the relative or interrogative pronoun 'who' combined with the auxiliary verbs 'would' or 'had'.


SIMPLE

Who'd like some more coffee?

CONTEXTUAL

The police are looking for a witness who'd seen the car leaving the scene before the sirens started.

COMPLEX

In a room full of experts, it was the youngest intern who'd eventually propose the solution that saved the entire project from certain failure.

Usage

Functions as a contraction; the following verb form determines if it represents 'would' (base form) or 'had' (past participle).

Pitfall

Who'd of thought it?Who'd have thought it?Learners often write 'of' because it sounds like the weak pronunciation of 'have' in contractions.

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