what is the difference between WILL and SHALL? I need a detailed answer.?

Answer 1

"Will" is a probable, definitely expected outcome. The storm will produce six inches of rain. I will have to operate to save his life.
"Shall" is a possible, changeable outcome. I expect I shall have to invite her to my party. What shall we have for supper?

Answer 2

The difference is simple. in the older ages and text like the Bible for instance...the difference between the two was that shall and will were like two different languages. they ment the same but in the hebrew langwage they saayed shall and it was like will was not even a word to them. I am not totaly sure about this but i think it might be right. hope this helped.

Answer 3

in the present day context will is used universally and shall is seldom used
will used in the first person indicates a firm commitment or a strong will and for emphasis
shall with the first person indicates the future tense as a matter of fact
shall is used with the second and third person to indicate order or command and also to emphasise on a point

Answer 4

"Usage Note: The traditional rules for using shall and will prescribe a highly complicated pattern of use in which the meanings of the forms change according to the person of the subject. In the first person, shall is used to indicate simple futurity: I shall (not will) have to buy another ticket. In the second and third persons, the same sense of futurity is expressed by will: The comet will (not shall) return in 87 years. You will (not shall) probably encounter some heavy seas when you round the point. The use of will in the first person and of shall in the second and third may express determination, promise, obligation, or permission, depending on the context. Thus I will leave tomorrow indicates that the speaker is determined to leave; You and she shall leave tomorrow is likely to be interpreted as a command. The sentence You shall have your money expresses a promise (“I will see that you get your money”), whereas You will have your money makes a simple prediction. ·Such, at least, are the traditional rules. The English and some traditionalists about usage are probably the only people who follow these rules, and then not with perfect consistency. In America, people who try to adhere to them run the risk of sounding pretentious or haughty. Americans normally use will to express most of the senses reserved for shall in English usage. Americans use shall chiefly in first person invitations and questions that request an opinion or agreement, such as Shall we go? and in certain fixed expressions, such as We shall overcome. In formal style, Americans use shall to express an explicit obligation, as in Applicants shall provide a proof of residence, though this sense is also expressed by must or should. In speech the distinction that the English signal by the choice of shall or will may be rendered by stressing the auxiliary, as in I will leave tomorrow (“I intend to leave”); by choosing another auxiliary, such as must or have to; or by using an adverb such as certainly. ·In addition to its sense of obligation, shall also can convey high moral seriousness that derives in part from its extensive use in the King James Bible, as in “Righteousness shall go before him and shall set us in the way of his steps” (Ps 85:13) and “He that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Mt 23:12). The prophetic overtones that shall bears with it have no doubt led to its use in some of the loftiest rhetoric in English. This may be why Lincoln chose to use it instead of will in the Gettysburg Address:“government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” See Usage Note at should."

Answer 5

"Will" is an implied conditional, i.e. "You will do x" implies there is a point in time or a certain condition, at which point, when it occurs, x will be done by you.

"Shall" is more of a command, or a "moral imperative", if you will, i.e. "You shall do x" leaves "you" no choice, "x" must be done.

Answer 6

Shall and will are both modal verbs in English primarily used to express futurity.

Practical Usage :
Before studying the more technical discussion following, readers seeking a guide to the simple usage of shall and will may safely follow this guideline:
Common, general or colloquial usage: Will is used with all persons (I / we; you; he/she/it, they). Shall is not used at all, except in first-person offers (e.g. "Shall I start the engines?"). This is today's typical "street" usage, which leaves the speaker's intentions somewhat vague and in need of additional support, such as, "and I really mean what I say".

Refined or traditional usage:
(1) To indicate an intention to do something: I / we shall. You; he/she/it, they will. This is the usual or "default" usage in using the language accurately. "I shall be going; you will be graduating next year."
(2) To indicate especial determination, as a sworn promise or oath, the forms in (1) are reversed. Now we have: I / we will. You; he/she/it, they shall. This is why, in traditional marriages, the promise of the bride and groom is I will; not the less determined I shall. This use conveys extraordinary, or exceptional, determination. In a political or idealistic application, it might be determination conveyed with a "clenched fist"; that is, a statement made with such determination that the speaker wishes to convey absolute certainty that the event must happen, no matter what. Or it might simply be a mother exerting her will: "You shall do as I say!"

The distinction is effectual. It is easily learned by pre-teenage children, though whether it is taught in homes and schools depends on cultural levels or geographic location.


Traditional usage

Pure system :
Shall and will are now most often used as auxiliary or modal verbs. However, they have their origins as main verbs and in what is known as the pure system are still used in their original Old English senses, regardless of grammatical person:

* Shall and its past tense form should has the meaning of command or obligation.
* Will and its past tense form would has the meaning of wish.

Hence:
* Thou shalt not steal.
* Shall I open the door?
* You should not say such things.
* And shall Trelawny die?
* Whom should he meet but Jones? (...was it his fate...)
* Why should you suspect me?
* It should seem so. (It would apparently be incumbent on us to believe)
* I will have my way.
* I (he) asked him (me) to do it, but he (I) would not.
* I would not have done it for the world.
* I would be told to wait a while (Habitual).
* Will you come with me?
* I would I were dead.
* He will bite his nails, whatever I say.
* He will often stand on his head.
* You will still be talking (i.e., you always are).
* A coat will last two years with care.
(examples from Fowler)

Simple future :
Old English did not have a future tense, but because the verbs shall and will hint at one, they were conscripted by the language's development and became modal verbs.

In declarative sentences under the pure system, shall is not used in the first person, since one does not usually give commands to oneself. So shall became the auxiliary verb for expressing simple futurity in the first person. Will, on the other hand, is not often used in the second and third persons in statements under the pure system, and so second and third person will became the auxiliary verb for expressing simple futurity in the second and third persons:

* Shall and its past tense form should denote simple futurity in the first person.
* Will and its past tense form would denote simple futurity in the second and third persons.

Hence:
* I shall, you will, die some day.
* Shall I, will they, be here to-morrow?
* We should, he would, have consented if you had asked.
* Should we, would he, have missed you if you had been there?
* I should, you would, like a bath.
* Should I, would he, like it myself, himself?


Modal future :
As a modification of the simple future, the verbs shall and will are used to express the speaker's wish, intention, menace, assurance, consent, refusal, promise, offer, permission, command, etc. Under this colored future system, the verbs are really used as extensions of the pure system verbs shall and will:

* Shall and its past tense form should denote the modal future in the second and third persons.
* Will and its past tense form would denote the modal future in the first person.

Hence:
* I will tell you presently. (My promise.)
* You shall repent it before long. (My menace.)
* He shall not have any. (My refusal.)
* We would go if we could. (Our conditional intention.)
* You should do it if we could make you. (Our conditional command.)
* They should have had it if they had asked. (My conditional consent.)

Commentary :
Shall is sometimes stronger than will: "You will stay?" – "I shan't." Will, however, is also used to express commands in coloquial speech: "You will do your homework." Or, surprisingly, to soften a request, though would is more common here. "Will you kindly hand me that pen?" (or "Would you kindly ...")

Another point to note is that the auxiliary used in questions should be the one expected in the answer: "Shall you accompany me?" – "I shall." To use will here would be a request; going-to future would express more the intention than mere futurity.
For example: "Should you like it?" expects the answer "Yes, I should" or "No, I shouldn't", whereas "Would you like it?" expects the answer "Yes, you would" (or the corresponding negative) from the same speaker (or used rhetorically), since "you would" is the right form for the speaker, but not for the respondent (if he or she exists).

The first-person distinctions taught by the prescriptive grammar tradition in British English may give rise to ambiguities for hearers who do not draw the same distinctions. *The Archbishop of Canterbury said that we should all sin from time to time.


Current common usage :
At the beginning of the 20th century, the various special cases made it necessary for Fowler's The King's English to devote 20 pages to the rules for shall vs. will, with the comment "the idiomatic use, while it comes by nature to southern Englishmen ... is so complicated that those who are not to the manner born can hardly acquire it".

According to the English grammarian Charles Talbut Onions, the correct idiomatic use of shall and will was an infallible test of the true English speaker, since American, Irish, and Scottish speakers have such difficulty using the words correctly. There is an illustrative old joke about the Scotsman who drowned in a river because he had cried "I will die! Nobody shall help me!"

Many current authorities, however, regard this approach as too formal, arguing that will is displacing shall in most situations, particularly so because the useful contraction 'll stands for both these modal verbs. Some dispute whether the rule ever applied. For instance, the Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage, OUP, 2002, says of the rule for the use of shall and will: "it is unlikely that this rule has ever had any consistent basis of authority in actual usage, and many examples of English in print disregard it". The rule has even less force in American English, where shall has a much more restricted role, and the negative contraction shan't does not occur.

"I shall" as the simple future is quickly passing out of all usage [citation needed] as the first person increasingly mirrors the second and third: that is, "I/we will" is understood as being equivalent in meaning to "you will", and "I shall" means the same as "you shall".

The old should-would distinction partially lives on with its sense of obligation (which is really command expressed in the conditional) for should, whereas would has lost any identifiable sense of wish except as an archaism or affectation; it is now used exclusively as a simple-conditional; should is synonymous with ought to.


Nevertheless, there are notable remaining uses of shall and should which remain present in modern language:
* phrases such as "I should think", "I should say" or "I should imagine"
* conditional should, expressing less probability in a Type I conditional (e.g., "If they should succeed, I will resign.")
* a speaker who normally says "I will" or "I'll" may use "I shall" as a marker of irony.
* in many parts of the English-speaking world, shall is the normal form for first-person offers and suggestions of the type: A: It's a bit hot in here. B: Shall I open a window?
* other uses noted below

It is advisable not to use shall at all if one does not understand the traditional difference well. Improper usage is immediately apparent to those who make the distinction, and the speaker may appear pretentious. To those who do not distinguish between shall and will, shall may seem archaic or affected. Shall is a sensitive word and should be used with caution.

In American English, the traditional differences are not used very much, and hardly at all among the younger generation. The current tendency is that shall is falling out of use entirely, and even will is used less than it has been in the past; their jobs have been largely appropriated by going to or have got to. Should and would, which are under no threat of extinction, are both used either as conditionals or to refer to future events in the past; should to express obligation, and would to express wish.