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07-Jul-2008, 16:50
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| |  Shall or Will?
I know that "shall" should be "used before a verb to indicate the simple future tense, particularly in the first person singular or plural"* and I know that "will" is often used instead of "shall".
Therefore my silly questions are:
should I use "shall" or "will" when I have a written test/exam?
And if I have a spoken one, should I use "shall" or "will" (I think I'd use this one)?
I hope you will reply soon,
your faithfully,
Simosito.
---
* from Wiktionary |
07-Jul-2008, 20:55
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| | Re: Shall or Will?
The word "shall" is rarely used in AE except in highly formal situations or in set phrases such as shall we dance. 
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13-Jul-2008, 14:55
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| | Re: Shall or Will?
Thanks.
What about BrE? |
13-Jul-2008, 17:37
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| | Re: Shall or Will?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simosito  Thanks.
What about BrE? | If you're uncertain, and the opportunity is there, consider using "I'll".
No-one will/shall know if you're contracting "will" or "shall"! | | The Following User Says Thank You to Raymott For This Useful Post: | |
13-Jul-2008, 18:25
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| | Re: Shall or Will?
"Shall" is falling out of use in Br.E. I regret that because "shall" has a much less agressive feeling than "will", I still use it but as I have said before on this forum, I am a dinosaur.  | | The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to bhaisahab For This Useful Post: | |
13-Jul-2008, 18:30
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| | Re: Shall or Will?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bhaisahab "Shall" is falling out of use in Br.E. I regret that because "shall" has a much less agressive feeling than "will", I still use it but as I have said before on this forum, I am a dinosaur. | Hi, bhaisahab. 
I've always loved your keeping saying 'I'm a dinosaur.'
What's the opposite of 'dinosaur', by the way?  |
13-Jul-2008, 18:34
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| | Re: Shall or Will?
Quote:
Originally Posted by tzfujimino | Thanks for your comments, as for your question, some kind of "leading edge" new organism I suppose. | | The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to bhaisahab For This Useful Post: | |
13-Jul-2008, 18:39
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| | Re: Shall or Will?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bhaisahab Thanks for your comments, as for your question, some kind of "leading edge" new organism I suppose. | I wouldn't like to be a "leading edge" new organism.
I'd rather be a 'dinosaur' like you. | | The Following User Says Thank You to tzfujimino For This Useful Post: | |
13-Jul-2008, 20:08
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| | Re: Shall or Will?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simosito I know that "shall" should be "used before a verb to indicate the simple future tense, particularly in the first person singular or plural"* and I know that "will" is often used instead of "shall".
Therefore my silly questions are:
should I use "shall" or "will" when I have a written test/exam?
And if I have a spoken one, should I use "shall" or "will" (I think I'd use this one)?
I hope you will reply soon,
your faithfully,
Simosito.
* from Wiktionary |
Hello Simosito. Read this from the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language Quote:
There is a well-known prescriptive rule that treats shall and will as complementary:
[44] Traditional prescriptive rule 1st person 2nd/3rd person
i Futurity (so called future tense) shall will
ii Volition/determination will shall
The classic illustration contrasts the drowning man's I shall drown and no one will save me (expressing futurity) and I will drown and no one will save me (expressing a determination to drown). It is quite clear, however, that this rule is not valid. ... As for [44i], we must allow will as well as shall for the first person - and modern usage manuals recognize this.
| [emphasis is mine]
[Just one more example, Soup, 2006]
Now as to use. shall is relatively uncommon in both BrE and NaE when it's compared with will.
Corpus studies show the following:
BrE - [CONV] shall approx 400 uses/million words will approx 5500 uses/million words
AmE - [CONV] shall less than 50 uses/million words will approx 4800 uses/million words
Last edited by riverkid; 13-Jul-2008 at 20:17.
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