shall, will

shall, will
Distinctions in the use of shall and will have broken down, but some careful speakers still observe these principles: (1) Use shall in the first person and will in the second or third person to express future time: "I (we) shall leave soon." "You (he, they) will leave soon." (2) For expressing command or determination, use will in the first person and shall in the second and third: "I will speak, no matter who tries to stop me." "You shall speak (meaning 'You must speak')." (3) To express willingness, promise, or intention, use will (same verb, different meaning) with all personal pronouns: "I will help you now." "You will be a success." Even so accomplished a user of language as Winston Churchill disregarded the basic rules for using shall and will when he declared: "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
     In general, use should and would according to recommendations for shall and will. Both should and would also have specialized meanings, should in the sense of obligation and would in the sense of habitual action: "You should go now." "He would take a walk every day."

Dictionary of problem words and expressions. . 1975.

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  • shall - will — Shall and will are used to make statements and ask questions about the future. Shall and will are not usually pronounced in full when they come after a pronoun. When you write down what someone says, you usually represent shall or will as …   Useful english dictionary

  • shall, will —    Authorities have been trying to pin down the vagaries and nuances of shall and will since the seventeenth century. In The Kings English, the Fowler brothers devote twenty pages to the matter. The gist of what they have to say is that either… …   Dictionary of troublesome word

  • shall, will —    Authorities have been trying to pin down the vagaries and nuances of shall and will since the seventeenth century. In The Kings English, the Fowler brothers devote twenty pages to the matter. The gist of what they have to say is that either… …   Dictionary of troublesome word

  • Shall and will — are both modal verbs in English used to express propositions about the future. Contents 1 Usage 1.1 Simple future 1.2 Questions 1.3 …   Wikipedia

  • will — 1. v.aux. & tr. (3rd sing. present will; past would) (foll. by infin. without to, or absol.; present and past only in use) 1 (in the 2nd and 3rd persons, and often in the 1st: see SHALL) expressing the future tense in statements, commands, or… …   Useful english dictionary

  • will — See shall. See shall, will …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • will, would —     The plan would be phased in over 10 years and will involve extra national insurance contributions (Times). The problem here is an inconsistency between what grammarians call the protasis (the condition) and the apodosis (the consequence). The …   Dictionary of troublesome word

  • will, would —     The plan would be phased in over 10 years and will involve extra national insurance contributions (Times). The problem here is an inconsistency between what grammarians call the protasis (the condition) and the apodosis (the consequence). The …   Dictionary of troublesome word

  • shall — See shall, will …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • Shall — Shall, v. i. & auxiliary. [imp. {Should}.] [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen, pres. zal, imp. zoude, zou, OHG. solan,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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