WHEN DO I USE “WILL” AND “SHALL”?


Welcome to Dissecting Grammar. Today, we shall take a look at the proper use of “will” and “shall” Many people are confused when it comes to using these two words. I want you to know that “will” and “shall” are modal auxiliaries used to express willingness. They are always used with future tenses to express willingness and obligations. A speaker uses the verbs together with base form of other verbs to show that he or she or the person referred to intends to carry out an action in the future.

Examples
Ø I will read my books in the night.
Ø Mr Okoh will come here tomorrow
Ø He shall abide by the laws of the land.
Now, the question is, how do we use the two words correctly? The answer is very simple. Let’s begin with “will”

The Use of “Will”
“Will” is a modal verb that is traditionally used to express future tense with the first person, second person and third person pronouns, irrespective of the number (i.e., whether singular or plural).

Examples
Ø I will take my lunch by 1pm (used with first person singular).
Ø We will move to our apartment next week (used with first person plural).
Ø You will sweep the class tomorrow (used with second person singular).
Ø You will go home next week when the school vacates (used with second person plural).
Ø  
Remember: (“you” is second person singular and second person plural).  

Ø He/she/it will be there soon (used with third person singular).
Ø They will be there soon (used with third person plural).
Let’s now see how we can use “shall.”

The Use of “Shall”
“Shall” is majorly used when the subject is first person pronoun ‘I’ or ‘we.’

Examples
I shall visit my uncle next month.
We shall go to school tomorrow.
You know what? It is, however, very possible to use “shall” with third person pronouns ‘he’, ‘she’ ‘it’ and even someone’s name. I guess you are already asking the question ‘when can it be used that way?’ Good! “Shall” is used with third person pronouns only when you want to say that something will happen in future, especially when it is duty bound on an individual to carry out a particular action.

Examples
Ø You shall submit your assignment tomorrow.
Ø The players shall report to camp immediately. 
Very importantly, “shall” is also used to have a legal implication. That is to say that, it is used when an action is legally compulsory for someone to carry out. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for instance, is replete with the use of “shall” for this purpose.

Examples
Ø The President shall be Head of State, the Chief Executive of the Federation and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation. (Section 130 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended).
Ø The Teacher shall be in charge of his class and everything therein.
I believe you have learnt something today. For questions and suggestions, please feel free to drop your lines on our comment post. Thank you for reading this article. Remain blessed and make sure you serve God faithfully. Bye for now.




Comments

  1. About the Author22 March 2017 at 14:41

    Thanks Doctor for your interest. Please, keep visiting here for more posts.

    ReplyDelete

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