Shall

Question

In earlier days we used the word shall in future same as will but now we are not using this.. So tell me where we use shall now the days. I heard once that we are using shall according to the should verb form.. Tell me how.
Thanks

Avangi · Accepted Answer

(I still use it the old way!)

You often hear it now in polite conversation: Shall I pour you another cup of coffee?
(You're right. It's more or less equivalent to Should I pour you another cup of coffee?)

AlpheccaStars · Answer

"Shall" is still used in formal legal documents to mean "obligation."

Cool Breeze · Answer

There was no future tense in Old English. When the simple future tense developed and shall and will began to be used to express futurity, it was felt more polite to use will in the second and third persons (you, he, she, it they) because its meaning had been 'to want' and it was understandably more polite to indicate that the person one was talking to wanted to do something; in other words, he did it voluntarily.

On the other hand, shall used to indicate obligation, and therefore it was fine to use it with 'I' and 'we' to express futurity. There was nothing impolite in saying one had to do something in the future. Of course will was also all right and it was used with 'I' and 'we' as well.

Note that in Swedish will has retained its old meaning (to want) and is the usual verb for that meaning. The spelling and pronunciation are a little different. The infinitive is vilja, present tense vill, past tense ville and the past participle used to form the perfect tenses is velat.

In modern English shall isn't much used in American English and is used less and less even in British English. I have a British friend who always uses in with 'I' and 'we': I shall go there tomorrow. It is more common to say: I will go there tomorrow.

As Avangi mentioned, shall is common in the first person in polite suggestions in the form of a question: Shall I open the window?

Shall can be used in the second and third persons to indicate what some grammarians call 'coloured futurity'. In such cases, a promise, a threat or something similar is intended: You shall regret this! They shall have the right answer by noon. This usage isn't very common in informal spoken English.

CB

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