"Will" and "Shall"
Traditional/British Rules
The verb will is used to form the simple future. According to traditional British grammatical rules, you should use shall in the first
person (singular or plural) to form the simple future, and use will in other persons as shown below.
- I shall find out tomorrow.
- He will find out tomorrow.
- We shall meet next week.
- You will meet next week.
Use will in the first person to indicate a choice or intention; use shall in other persons.
- Both are nice, but I will purchase the blue car.
- Both are nice, but she shall purchase the blue car.
Problems with Conditional Statements
By following these rules, you may find that the conditional forms of will and shall, would and should, can introduce
problems in understanding. In a North American context, we usually take should to always mean an obliged action, rather than a colourless
condition. A statement such as "I should send my payments on time" means "I am obliged to send my payments on time."
If you follow the traditional/British rules, you must use should in the first person to form a conditional statement or question; in other
persons, use would, as shown below.
- If I entered the contest, I should win first prize.
- If she entered the contest, she would win first prize.
- Should I contact your office in that event?
- Would you contact my office in that event?
Most of us would take the first sentence to mean that the people running the contest are obliged to award first prize to your contest entry; to do
otherwise would be unjust. The second example conveys the intended meaning: that she is very likely to win first prize.
Typically, therefore, we replace should with would in the first sentence to indicate a possible outcome, rather than an imperative
one. However, because would is the conditional form of will, the simple future in the first person should be formed with will.
Compare the following examples:
Traditional/British
- I shall find out tomorrow.
- If I entered the contest, I should win first prize.
Contemporary/North American
- I will find out tomorrow.
- If I entered the contest, I would win first prize.
As you might expect, you will find that the Oxford dictionary follows the traditional/British rules, and Webster's follows the
contemporary/North American rules. Whichever rules you decide to follow, be careful to not mix the two.
Points to Remember
If you change person when reporting a sentence, do not change from will to shall or from shall to will.
- He told me that I will fail. (He told me, "You will fail.")
- He said that he shall fail. (He said, "I shall fail.")
Use shall in any person to indicate a command or duty.
- You shall respect your elders.
Elisions
The elision (contracted form) for both will and shall is 'll. The elision for both would and should is 'd.
- I'll go there later. (I shall...)
- He'll go there later. (He will...)
- We'd stay if we had more time. (We should...)
- She'd stay if she had more time. (She would...)
Only use an elision after a personal pronoun. Do not use one when the meaning is unclear.
- Ambiguous (avoid): You'll be there after lunch.
- Statement: You will be there after lunch.
- Command: You shall be there after lunch.
- Never: Judy'll be there after lunch.
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