'Will' for habit, usual events

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Is it correct to say

'My car will not start in such cold'
'he will behave modestly in such companies'

Thank you in advance.
 

bhaisahab

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Is it correct to say

'My car will not start in such cold'
'he will behave modestly in such companies'

Thank you in advance.

The first one is OK but I'd put "weather" after "cold". The second one is not natural.
 

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But is it correct to say
'Crimes will (always) happen in such sites'?
 

bhaisahab

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But does 'always' play here a noticeable role?
 

emsr2d2

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Is it correct to say

'My car will not start in such cold'
'he will behave modestly in such companies'

Thank you in advance.

If you are talking about a habitual regular event, you can use the future construction, or the present to indicate habit.

My car won't start in very cold weather.
My car doesn't start in very cold weather.

I prefer the present tense usage for habitual actions in most cases and, in fact, "won't" in the first sentence above, could be understood to mean "My car refuses to start in very cold weather", with "refuses" being the present tense indicating a habit.

I'm not sure what your second example was supposed to mean. It sounds like it came from a very old-fashioned book. A more up-to-date version might be something like "He behaves well when he's in polite company" - again, I would use the present tense to indicate a habit here, not "will".
 

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Thank you very much for your comments.

But what idea do Englishspeakers want to express using 'will' in sentences like 'Boys will be boys', 'Crimes will happen in such sites'?

Maybe 'just because our world is such?
 

emsr2d2

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Thank you very much for your comments.

But what idea do Englishspeakers want to express using 'will' in sentences like 'Boys will be boys', 'Crimes will happen in such sites'?

Maybe 'just because our world is such?

In those instances, you're not really talking about a habit. You are talking about a fact. It is very likely that boys in the future really will always behave like boys in the past and in the present (well, unless something amazing happens in evolution). That example has a very specific usage, usually accompanied by an exasperated sigh when seeing your husband taking apart a motorbike engine on the sitting-room carpet, or some other kind of typically male behaviour. It's particularly useful when an adult male is doing something more suited to a male child, or when a male child does something that you would never expect to see a female child doing (I really can't think of an example for that!)

"Crimes will happen in such sites" is rather unnatural. Do you mean "Crime is generally prevalent in such areas" or something similar?
 

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I meant the following: there is a terrific, maybe even mystic, site, eg., in a city which just dispose people to criminal activity. I suppose, hearing about a new crime in this region, I could say, maybe with fear, 'Crimes will always happen in such sites'.

I like your example with a man taking apart engine:). Taking into account your comment I would think that the formula 'just because our world is such' looks right, doesn't it?
 

emsr2d2

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I meant the following: there is a terrific, maybe even mystic, site, eg., in a city which just dispose people to criminal activity. I suppose, hearing about a new crime in this region, I could say, maybe with fear, 'Crimes will always happen in such sites'.

I like your example with a man taking apart engine:). Taking into account your comment I would think that the formula 'just because our world is such' looks right, doesn't it?

#1 - My main problem with your example is the use of the word "sites". That suggests a building site or something similar. I would still use something like "area" or "place". You also need to use the generic "crime", not the plural. Otherwise, I see your point.

#2 - "Just because our world is such" is not natural English. We might say something like "That's just the way the world is".
 

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In the sentences that have been discussed, 'will' has no implication of futurity. As an indication of a characteristic or indication of insistence, the situation may very well hapen in the future as it did in the past, but that is incidental.
 

emsr2d2

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In the sentences that have been discussed, 'will' has no implication of futurity. As an indication of a characteristic or indication of insistence, the situation may very well hapen in the future as it did in the past, but that is incidental.

I agree. If someone said something like "We have built a new apartment and shopping complex in the middle of a very run-down area. We would like to be optimistic but we are quite certain that crime will be rife there in a very short period of time", then they would be discussing the future.
 
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