Quote:
Originally Posted by Tdol  What's the truth about 'shall' nowadays? |
The traditional rule, often stated in grammars and usage books, i
s that to express a simple future tense shall is used after I and we (I shall leave promptly at noon) and will in other cases, i.e., the second and third persons (Will you leave at noon?They will leave at noon). To express intention, command, or wish their roles are reversed: I will do this right or die trying.Passengers shall present two photo IDs prior to ticketing. It is unlikely that this rule has ever been regularly observed, however, and many examples in the printed works of the best writers contradict it. Though will and, occasionally, shall are used as auxiliary verbs referring to a future action or state, other ways of expressing this are often preferred as more natural, for example, am going to. W
hen shall and will are used in conversation, they are normally contracted to 'll, so that the difference between the two words becomes irrelevant.
In all parts of the English-speaking world other than England, shall has been more or less replaced by will. It survives mostly in usages such as Shall we go? and the contracted negative form shan't, but this is rarely if ever used in modern-day U.S. English. In U.S. English, shall is still sometimes used in official and quasi-legal contexts such as These precincts shall recount the votes as per the state election regulations (a command), but this sounds old-fashioned. Shall is also a part of well-established expressions in U.S. English such as We shall overcome.Microsoft® Encarta® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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