Shall And Will: The Rules Of Form And Use

This article is a comprehensive guide on shall vs will. If you are interested in the future simple, check this link.

Introduction

The use of the modal verbs shall and will can be confusing. This article will present the form and use of these two modal verbs.

Shall Vs Will

What is the difference between shall and will?

The general rule is that shall is used to form the future tense with first-person pronouns (i.e., I and we), whereas will is used with all the pronouns – the first, second, and third-person pronouns (i.e., I, you, he, she, it, we, they).

Here are some quick rules about shall and will. We will start with the rules of form and then proceed with the rules of use.

Shall or Will	Use	Examples
Shall (Used mostly with I and we)	– Future Tense: Used with first-person pronouns – Asking for Advice: Used with first-person pronouns (I, we) – Suggestions: Used with first-person pronouns (I, we) – Offers: Used with first-person pronouns (I, we) – Legal/Formal Documents.	– I shall be on time for the meeting. – Shall I see a doctor? – Shall we go to the beach? – Shall I help you with your heavy box? – There shall be no trespassing on this property.
Will (Used with all pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they)	– Future Tense – Offers – Requests – Promises – Commands	– I hope he will pass the exam. – I‘ll give you a lift to the airport if you want. – Will you lend me your phone, please? – Don’t worry! I‘ll help you fix your car. – You will do what you are told.

Forms of shall and will

1. “Will” is used with all persons.

I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will	go there

2. “shall” is used in the first person singular and plural.

I	shall	go
we	shall	go

3. The short form of will and shall is “ll.

I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will	call you
	‘ll

I, we	shall	call you
	‘ll

4. In the negative, the short forms of will not and shall not are won’t and shan’t respectively.

I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will not	give up
	won’t

I, we	shall not	give up
	shan”t

The table below summarizes all the forms:

Affirmative
I, we	will/shall	go
	‘ll
You, he, she, it, they	will
	‘ll
Negative
I, we	will/shall not	go
	won’t/shan’t
You, he, she, it, they	will
	‘ll
Interrogative
Will/shall	I, we	go?
Will	You, he, she, it, they

Uses of shall

Note:

“Shall” is a modal verb that is used with I and we. It is always followed by the base form of the verb (i.e., the bare infinitive.)

Example:

• I shall come.
• We shall see.

“Shall “is used in formal English with I and we (the first-person singular and plural) in the future tense. It may also be used to express advice or make a suggestion or an offer.

Shall for future tense

• I shall be on time for the meeting.
• We shall send you an email when we have further information.
• I inform you that we shall start the meeting tomorrow at 9 am.

Shall for Asking For advice

• I have a toothache. What shall I do?
• What shall we do with this problem?
• What shall I do to get rid of my acne?
• Shall I see a doctor?

Shall for making suggestions

• Shall we dance?
• Shall we meet next Monday?
• Shall we dance?
• Shall I get his phone number?
• Shall I close the door?
• Let’s go to the movies, shall we?

Shall for making offers

• Shall I help you with your heavy box?
• Shall I make you a cup of coffee?
• Shall I cook something for you?
• Shall I bring cookies with a cup of tea?

Shall in some special cases

As said above shall is used with the first-person singular and plural (I and we.) But there is a very special use of shall with other pronouns to make a promise, command, or threat as noted below:

• You shall not get in! (Command)
• You shall pay for it. (Threat)
• You shall get your money back soon. (Promise)

Shall in American English

In American English “shall” is mainly used in formal or legal documents:

• You shall abide by the law.
• There shall be no trespassing on this property.
• Students shall not enter this room.

Uses of will

Examples:

• I will do it.
• She will arrive early.
• You will see.

Will is used to express the future tense. It may express predictions or instant decisions, but it can be also used to make requests, promises, and offers.

Will for future tense

Will describes the future and may express a prediction or an instant decision:

• He is a hardworking student. He‘ll pass the exam (prediction.)
• They say it will rain a lot in the northern part of the country (prediction.)
• Hang on. I‘ll get a pen (instant decision.)
• “I’ve left the door open.” “I’ll close it.” (Instant decision.)

Will for offers

• I‘ll give you a lift to the airport if you want.
• We‘ll come and see you next week.

Will for requests

• Will you lend me your phone, please?
• Will you carry this bag for me, please?

Will for promises

• I‘ll help you fix your car.
• We‘ll pay you a visit next week.

Will for commands

• You will do what you are told.
• Will you shut your mouth for a second?

Conclusion

Generally, we use shall with the bare infinitive to form the future tense with the first-person pronouns (i.e., I and we.) Will is also used with the bare infinitive to express the future tense. However, will is used with all the pronouns – the first, second, and third-person pronouns (i.e., I, you, he, she, it, we, they). We may use shall and will to make offers, requests, promises, commands, suggestions, or to ask for advice.

Related pages

• Simple Future
• Modal verbs
• Present and past of modals
• Modals for obligation
• Must and have to
• Shall and will
• Is need a modal verb?
• Exercise on modals
• Exercise on modals in the past
• Exercise on modals: mustn’t or needn’t
• Exercise on have to vs don’t have to
• Exercise on Modals for Obligation: must, mustn’t, don’t have/doesn’t have to
• Exercise on the meaning of modals