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#1
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| Thanks Mauricio. |
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#2
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| I shall answer this = I intend to answer this We shall give you an answer soon = WE intend to answer soon ["Shall" is increasingly being replaced by "will" with I and We, but is still used; see this for more information: AskOxford: shall ] I ought to answer this = it is desirable/necessary that I answer this We ought to go home = it is desirable that we go home |
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#3
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| Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
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#4
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| Ah well, some people just don't like the Oxford English Dictionary. |
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#5
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| Quote:
Last edited by banderas; 22-May-2008 at 02:40. |
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#6
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| Here's another : Learning English | BBC World Service and another: Shall and Will. Fowler, H. W. 1908. The King's English and another: The Difference Between “will” and “shall” |
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#7
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| Quote:
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#8
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| It is still worth reading him. He has a good sense of humour. |
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#9
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| Quote: |
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#10
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| But you shouldn't offer him up to ESLs or anyone for that matter as an authority on the English language, Anglika. Now on the shall/will thing. It isn't a matter of "liking" Oxford. There is a great deal of good stuff in there but when they repeat nonsense like this, that's a different matter. For shall, BrE, conversation, the LGSWE notes that its frequency is in the 300 per million words range while will is around 5500 per million words. For NaE, shall barely registers, 5-10 per million while will is around 4800 per million. Given these numbers, for both dialects, with the frequency of "I/We will's" in the language, I think it unlikely that this "rule" is followed much at all. |
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