Comes in colours.

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Avangi

#460484 Fri, 04 Jan 08 08:16 PM

Are the colours black and blue?

Can't believe I started this with my smallest reply ever.

Avangi

Joined on Mon, Nov 19 2007

Senior Member (4,504)

". . . le plaisir delicieux et toujours nouveau d'une occupation inutile." - Henri de Regnier

Tanit

#460670 Sat, 05 Jan 08 09:55 AM

Grammar Geek wrote:
I very much expect that if you surveyed 1000 Americans about the difference between "I shall" and "I will," well over 950 of them will say something like "Ummm.... is shall British, maybe?"

Hi Barbara,

Thanks for your answer. I forgot to mention that the teacher I was referring to is British, but I am quite sure you understood that. Smile [:)]

Tanit

Joined on Mon, Jul 31 2006

In the middle of the Mediterranean Sea

Senior Member (2,307)

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Grammar, Difference Between

Alan.es

#460756 Sat, 05 Jan 08 04:14 PM

As a native speaker of BrE teaching in Spain, I support Barbara's ideas. Most BrE English speakers never use 'shall' except for a few who use it for making a suggestion such as, "Shall we go?" 'I'll' and 'we'll' are used in the affirmative even in written English so avoiding the use of 'shall'. 'Won't' is used in the negative.

It's irritated me for some years that it's been necessary to teach 'shall' only for the examinations. However it is now being accepted that it is an old usage.

Colour is aded by tone of voice whether you use will, shall or going to. Examination questions set by non-native speakers are often ambiguous when they try to test the different usages.

Alan.es

Joined on Sun, Apr 16 2006

Full Member (303)

Negatives

Avangi

#460770 Sat, 05 Jan 08 04:45 PM

Anonymous wrote:

(again, for MollyB.)

>Jespersen has said that, when referring to the future, "will" is often coloured by an element of volition and "shall" by obligation. Joos has said that "be going to" seems to be the only uncoloured futue English has.

Do you think Jespersen and Joos are right?<

The quote is " . . . . is often coloured by an element of . . . ." Why does it have to be black and white? (Their names are funny too.) If it weren't for colouring, connotative meaning would be lost to poetry.

Edit. Hi Alan.es,

As a high school junior I got every example wrong on a quiz about the subjunctive. The teacher refused to review it. (I don't think he got it either!) I should have seen the handwriting on the wall. Now that [I think] I understand it - and like it - people give me nasty looks when I use it. (I'm an old user.)

Avangi

Subjunctives

Anonymous

#460848 Sun, 06 Jan 08 12:25 AM

Alan.es wrote:
As a native speaker of BrE teaching in Spain, I support Barbara's ideas. Most BrE English speakers never use 'shall' except for a few who use it for making a suggestion such as,"Shall we go?" .

Usage of "shall" in BrE:

SHALL - 19,814 per million words. That's quite a high figure

Beyond "Shall we go?".

We shall + verb:

WE SHALL SEE 928

WE SHALL BE 575

WE SHALL HAVE 365

WE SHALL CONSIDER 123

WE SHALL RETURN 120

WE SHALL LOOK 103

WE SHALL DO 67

WE SHALL GO 43

WE SHALL CONCENTRATE 21

WE SHALL INTRODUCE 12

WE SHALL LOSE 12

WE SHALL ADOPT 11

http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/

<<It's irritated me for some years that it's been necessary to teach 'shall' only for the examinations. >>

If you don't teach it, how will your students understand all these sentences and more, similar ones?

1. , my answer is that I have told you before and I shall go on telling you, and you know perfectly well what it

2. you know when that time has actually arrived. So I shall go when people rather wished I stayed in a way. But

3. come my way. I find them extremely depressing but I shall go on slogging away until my term as chairman ends in the

4. state of wanton neglect," she said. "I shall go out this afternoon and make a start on the borders.

5. be far gone, it must be almost morning, I shall go downstairs and make myself a first pot of tea. But

6. have assigned myself for each one of my undertakings. I shall go even further: my freedom will be so much the greater

7. I don't know what to say to you. I shall go mad or die of a decline. The very recollection of

8. thinking of opening out like a flower. 2. I shall go to antenatal classes where I shall nourish my obsession for natural

9. If you make me leave the table, Hughie, I shall go straight down into the kitchen. I always find good company

10. your kindness and favour." Rameshwar answered, "I shall go home no more but will make my home forever at your

11. . "Yes," my father said, "I shall go and take you two girls if you are fit to be

12. her the double bladed paddle as she continued, "I shall go down as far as Browns Mill, so could you possibly

13. believe that, with the first change in fortune, I shall go back to Carlotta. Sometimes I think you suspect me of

14. ." "No," said Nicholas. "I shall go, then. But there are some orders I should like

15. level. "How?" he said. "I shall go back and prepare an assault," Nicholas said. &bquo;

16. In some cases, where I have personal experience, I shall go into the depth of the technical details. However, I

17. Tamar rose from the table, she remarked, "I shall go out for a ride, Mama." Her mother-in-law raised

18. , suddenly standing, beautiful as a lily. "I shall go back to my weaving. The pattern may be complicated but

19. "I can't stand much more of this. I shall go soon." The 68-year-old Peregrine Worsthorne appears yet again,

20. his good intentions. "As to that, madam, I shall go further," he said gallantly, whereupon he unfastened his

I wouldn't put "shall" to bed just yet, Alan.

Anonymous

Verbs

Anonymous

#460849 Sun, 06 Jan 08 12:32 AM

<<It's irritated me for some years that it's been necessary to teach 'shall' only for the examinations. However it is now being accepted that it is an old usage. >>

Do you still teach "whom"? If you do, does it irritate you having to do that?

British National Corpus:

WHOM - 12,596 PER MILLION WORDS

SHALL - 19,814 PER MILLION WORDS

http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/

Anonymous

Whom

Anonymous

#460850 Sun, 06 Jan 08 12:36 AM

<<'I'll' and 'we'll' are used in the affirmative even in written English so avoiding the use of 'shall'.>>

Are "I'll" and "we'll" contractions of "I will" and " we will" there?

Anonymous

Contractions

Alan.es

#461087 Sun, 06 Jan 08 11:34 AM

Yes, I'll and we'll are contractions of I shall and we shall.

Yes, teaching whom does irritate me a little but it's not tested as much so minor irritation only.

I accept and use shall in my own conversations and writing but then I learned my grammar when you couldn't end a sentence with a preposition nor could you split an infinitive.

Google is very useful but I don't accept its use as a means of proof for correct usage in English.

Let's not argue about the disappearance of shall from the English language. It will be with us for many years yet but its use in everyday English has declined enormously already.

The same is true for whom.

Alan.es

Prepositions, Grammar, Whom, Conversations, Contractions

MrPedantic

#461237 Sun, 06 Jan 08 10:31 PM

Alan.es wrote:

Let's not argue about the disappearance of shall from the English language. It will be with us for many years yet but its use in everyday English has declined enormously already. The same is true for whom.

Yes; I used to think that "shall" was quite unusual, in BrE, except in questions, and only to be found in certain contexts; but once you begin to listen out for it, it turns up surprisingly often.

MrP