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Newguest Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

shall/should/will

0Hi02br
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00I'm not sure I understand "shall" and "will" and "should"02br
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00So, is it OK to say: Should I open the door? or Shall I open the door? Do they mean the same? I've heard that "should" means more "I was supposed to," but does it make any difference in my examples?02br
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00How about "will" and "shall"?02br
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001.We will unite to resist oppression, and tyrants shall not triumph over us. WHY NOT: WILL NOT TRIUMPH?02br
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002. You've been a good child, and when we get home you shall have a sweet. WHY NOT: YOU WILL HAVE A SWEET?02br
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003.Persons shall not be permitted to sit in the gangways. WHY NOT: SHOULD NOT??? AND WHY: PERSONS WITH "S" AT THE END?02br
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004.Where shall I be in six years' time. HOW ABOUT" WHERE WILL I BE...?02br
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005. SHOULD we go? or SHALL we go? Is there a big difference?02br
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006. The tenant shall be responsible for all repairs. I THINK IT'S PERFECTLY OK TO WRITE "WILL BE RESPONSIBLE,"but my book says that only "shall" is fine! Maybe because it's a part of the agreement?02br
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00thanks0-
  

Top answer

W. Fowler, The King’s English, Shall/Will02br 05002br 00You would be better off instead of posting by making searches (top right Search box) for:02br 01b 00shall should02b 02br 01b 00would will02b 02br 01b 00shall should MrPedantic02br 02b 02br 00and read some of the resulting threads. It's all there, but you read to READ it.

— Marius Hancu

  • W.
  • Fowler, The King’s English, Shall/Will02br 05002br 00You would be better off instead of posting by making searches (top right Search box) for:02br 01b 00shall should02b 02br 01b 00would will02b 02br 01b 00shall should MrPedantic02br 02b 02br 00and read some of the resulting threads.
  • It's all there, but you read to READ it.
  • I strongly recommend you to read the opinions of MrPedantic, as the British are using more 01b 00shall02b 00 than we do on this side of the Pond.
  • htm
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6 Answers
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0It's going to take you years to understand this, but you're welcome to try, esp if interested in the classical BrE: 02br
00<>H.W. Fowler, The King’s English, Shall/Will02br
05002br
00You would be better off instead of posting by making searches (top right Search box) for:02br
01b00shall should02b02br
01b00w
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0Marius, that "prepared" search - was that the result you got from your search, or was there some other nifty way of doing that?0-
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0 See the Fowler reference quoted in the above. 02br
00IMO, these apply here: 02br
001. Fowler, Rule 2, colored-future, it is 01b00my view (my strong opinion) 02b00that ...02br
02br
002. Fowler, Rule 2, colored future (01b00my promise02b00)02br
003. Fowler,01i00 02i00Rule
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0OK. Thanks for your help guys!0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Grammar Geek12cite10Marius, that "prepared" search - was that the result you got from your search, or was there some other nifty way of doing that?12br
12blockquote
10 Yes, it's the result of the search. 02br
00At least in my browser, when I typed in the 01b00top right Search box
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0That's neat - I think I've tried to paste in a URL from a search in the prior version and it didn't work right, but the new search and the new forum format do seem to work with that now. Thanks.0-
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