Will, shall usage

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ARVIND

#19612 Sun, 18 Jan 04 11:41 AM

could anyone please tell when & where to use will and shall.

ARVIND

Joined on Sun, Jan 18 2004

New Member (02)

deepa

#19618 Sun, 18 Jan 04 12:14 PM

Shall is the first person singular and plural form of will:

I/we shall
You/he/she/it/they will

In British English shall is still used, but is becoming less common. In American English shall is not normally used. Probably the area where shall is most common (especially in British English) is for making offers and suggestions and asking for decisions and instructions:

Shall I make some tea?
Shall we visit the neighbours?
When shall we have your answer?
How shall we find you?

deepa

Joined on Tue, Nov 18 2003

Pondicherry ,India

Regular Member (848)

American English, British English, Plurals

maj

#19621 Sun, 18 Jan 04 12:33 PM

Would you also use shall in the answers?

maj

Joined on Mon, Mar 31 2003

Senior Member (4,756)

milky

#19689 Mon, 19 Jan 04 11:03 AM

I would hope not.

:-o

milky

Joined on Thu, Jan 15 2004

Senior Member (3,149)

Hume said that if we had perfect or complete descriptive knowledge of reality, we could not, by reasoning, derive a single valid "ought".

maj

#19693 Mon, 19 Jan 04 12:13 PM

So how would you answer them? Could you give us an example. Thanks in advance.

maj

sohj

#19720 Mon, 19 Jan 04 06:54 PM

Some examples of potential answers.

"Shall I make some tea?" -- "Yes, please!"

"Shall we visit the neighbors?" -- "What a good idea!" or "Good Grief! Why? They are horrible!"

"When shall we have your answer?" -- "You will have it when I figure out what you are asking of me."

"How shall we find you?" -- "Well, you may (or 'can' if you want to imply capability rather than permission) call me on my cell phone when you get to the park, or we can decide where to meet at a precise time."

sohj

Joined on Tue, Dec 9 2003

NYC

New Member (31)

Guest

#25915 Fri, 19 Mar 04 03:08 AM

Actually, the usage of will/shall is not dependent on person at all: one can just as easily say I will or he shall. These are correct. The difference is in an elusive difference in meaning between will and shall. They express different intentions. In first person, shall is a prediction, will is a promise. In any other person, it is the reverse. A simple foray into a good dictionary will tell you more.

Guest

rommie

#25932 Fri, 19 Mar 04 08:30 AM

If I may elaborate on that explanation a little:

In the first person "shall" may be effectively substituted with "am/are going to".
In the second and third person, "will" (not "shall") performs this function.

However, using the other form ("shall" instead of "will" or vice versa), implies determination on the part of the speaker (not on the part of the subject of the verb).

So: "You will die" is a prophesy, but "You shall die" is a threat. "Cinderella, you shall go to the ball" is another example of emphasis. Similarly (in the first person) "I shall die" is a prophesy, but "I will die" is a declaration of intent to commit suicide.

Rommie

rommie