Modals expressing past willingness / unwillingness
Would can express insistence/willingness and wouldn't refusal/unwillingness in the past.
I had asked Joe to leave me more space but he would park his car next to mine, so I couldn't get out.
Try as I might, the door wouldn't open.
Couldn't + perfectThe aspect expressing completion. E.g.: He’s finished university. infinitive can also express unwillingness.
We couldn't possibly have left that bird, unable to fly, on the ground.
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