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In English, distance from the real or factual—the hypothetical, the reported, the suggested, etc—is often expressed grammatically with the subjunctive mood, the conditional mood etc. The funny thing I noticed is that in English these words are often the same words which express past tense; "were", "would" etc.

I thought this was interesting because not all languages do this, and because there are certain spiritual traditions who claim that only the here and now is actual and real. You can make some kind of ontological connection between what's perceived to be in the past, and anything that's perceived as nonfactual or less real in any way, but perhaps it goes deeper.

The same type of language is used to make something sound less direct or blunt, creating a distance from the factual.

>"If the history of England were ever written by one who has the knowledge and the courage, the world would be astonished."
>"If I were you, I would take the job."
>"I wish I were taller."
>"If he were here, he could help us."
>"If it would rain, we could stay inside."
>"I would go if I had more time."
>"She would have helped if she had known."
>"He said he would call me later."
>"She told me that she would go if she could."
>"If I had known about the meeting, I would have gone."
>"If we had left earlier, we would have caught the train."
>"If I were to win the lottery, I would buy a house."
>"I would appreciate it if you could help me with this task."
>"Could you pass me the salt, please?"
>"I would like to know if you’re available tomorrow."
>"Would you mind helping me with this?"
>"I wish I were able to help you."
>"If you were to arrive earlier, we could catch the beginning of the movie."
>"I would prefer if you were more careful with the details."
>"If you would like, I can give you a ride."
>"I would suggest that we take a break now."
>"It would be great if we could meet sometime next week."
>"I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make it to your event."
>"I would have helped you, but I was too busy."
>"I would have preferred to talk about this earlier."
>"It was a good idea, but it didn’t work out as we hoped."
>"He wasn’t really interested in the proposal."
>"It seems like it was a misunderstanding."
>"If I were in your shoes, I’d take a break."
>"If she were to leave, would you be upset?"