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There are may ways of referring to future events in English, and the use of shall and will is one to them. We have already seen that all modal verbs can refer to future time. They do, however, carry some additional implication (e.g. ability permission, prossibility). Shall and will, similarly, often carry an additional implication. (e.g. promise, refusal, determination), and their use in a purely predictive sense, i.e. simply to state what lies in store in the future, is only one of their several uses. In the restricted use of 'pure' future, shall is used only after I or we, and is often replaced by will or 'll, expecially in speech. When used with other pronouns, shall does not have a purely predictive meaning, and is not interchangeable with will.
In this sentence, shall., will, and the short form 'll are all used simply to state what the future holds. The pronouns I and we naturally occur more commonly in the spoken language than in the written, and the use of the short form 'll is therefore extremely common in speech. The use of will and 'll as alternatives to shall can sometimes lead to ambiguity:
In the cese of will and 'll the precise meaning of the speaker would be made clear only by the context, situation, or intonation: a I think I shall finish the work tonight. ('pure' future) b I think I will finigh the work tonight. ('pure' future or intention?) c I think I'll finish the work tonight (a or b?) Will and 'll as substitutes for shall after I/we are ambiguous only in a sentence like 2, where the context will suppot the idea of promise, willinness, or intention. In any case, such an ambiguity would hardly lead to a fatal misunderstanding! In negatibe sentences, we use shan't and won't and the short form 'll not is not often used. As for the meaning, the same considerations apply as for shall and will. The interrogative shall I/we? Used with an active verb form does not generally occur with a 'pure' future meaning, since we rerely ask other people about what our own future actions will be, it may, however, be used in a 'pure' future sence with verbs denoting actions or events which do not depend on the speaker for their performance:
Shall I? is also used in a 'pure' future sense with passive verbs, since the speaker is not in this case asking about his own future activities:
In most cases, however, shall I? used with an active verb form represents a request on the past of the speaker to know the wishes or opinion of the person he is talking to, and in this sense it is never replaced by will: 5 Shall I order a taxi for you? What does this mean for the foreign learner? Students will probably find that they use 'll quite frequently in their own speech, so that there is no need to choose between shall and will after I/we. Where a choice is necessary, e.g. in negative sentences and in the written language, it is advisable to use shall (or shan't) if there is any need to avoid ambiguity. Reorted speech 6 I shall be able to come.' 6a I said I would (or should) be able to come. 6b You said you would be able to come. 6c He said he would be able to come. For reporting I shall, a choice between should and would arises only when the speaker reports his own words, as in 6a. In fact, we tend increasingly to use only would, possibly because of the potential ambiguity of should in some contexts: I said I should be alble to come could be interpreted as the reported version of 'I sould be able to come' = This is what I may reasonably expect to be able to do. If the report is made by a person other than the original speaker, only would is used, as in 6b and 6c. These remarks also apply when we report 'pure' future questions beginning Shall I? 7 Shall I hear from you soon?' 7a I asked if I would (or should) hear from him soon? 7b You asked if you would hear from him soon? 7c He asked if he would hear from him soon. After the pronouns you, he(she, it) and they, only will is used in a purely predictive sense. It should be noted, however, that in many cases will may carry an additional implication, paticularly after the pronou you. In statements, you will may represent an instruction rather than a prediction: You will arrive punctually in future, ' the manager told him. In question, will you ? May represent either (a) a request for information, or (b) a request for action: a Will you know the result soon? b Will (or would ) you go and see the magager, please? The predictive function of will is most abviously illustrated and most commonly seen after he(she, it) they, and after nouns generally: The space shuttle will land at 6 p.m. our time tomorrow. These uses of will are not source of difficulty, in the sense that they do not involve a choice between will and shall. But students should be sensitive to the nuances of meaning expressed by will, both those indicated above and those practised in earlier exercises, and should not always assume that will is functioning in a 'pure' future sense, or necessarily in a future sense a all. |