Classy
1. There is no semantic difference when shall and will are used to refer to the simple future. Will can be used in all persons. In informal spoken English, remember that the affirmative contraction is 'll and the negative contraction is won't. There is no contracted form in the interrogative. Examples of usage might be: * 'The Government will consider lowering the age of consent from 16 to 15.' (formal) * 'I don't know if I can come, but I'll let you know by Thursday.' (informal) * 'Where will you be on Thursday? Will you be at home?' (informal)Shall is also sometimes used in the first person when it has the same meaning as will. In informal spoken English, the affirmative contraction is again 'll and the negative contracted form isshan't. * 'I shall never finish this essay - I've still got 2,000 words to write!' * 'I'll never finish this homework - I'm tired and I want to go to bed!' * 'I shan't ever be good enough to go to university - I just haven't got the brains!'Shall is often used in questions in the first person singular and plural when making suggestions, making an offer or asking for advice: * 'Shall we go out for dinner tonight?' * 'Shall I get more tomato juice when I'm at the supermarket?' * 'What shall we do now? We're clearly not going to get there by nightfall.'However, when we want to express a strong intention to do something, we use will or 'll in the first person singular and plural: * 'Is that somebody at the door? I'll just go and see who it is.' * 'We'll get the cakes for the coffee morning tomorrow, Jane.' * 'No, no. I will. I'm the hostess, after all.' | |
| | | | | | | | 2. There are three uses of should and would. Referring to the present or future, should is often used as an alternative to shallin connection with requests for advice or instruction: * 'What do you think I should do now? Should I write him a letter, send him an e-mail, or should I try to phone him up?'Should is often used to talk
| | | | | | | | 2. There are three uses of should and would. Referring to the present or future, should is often used as an alternative to shallin connection with requests for advice or instruction: * 'What do you think I should do now? Should I write him a letter, send him an e-mail, or should I try to phone him up?'Should is often used to talk