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Milky Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

shall/will and authority

I get a feeling that in (a) the authority of the speaker is clear, but in (b) it is not. Am I right?

All elections shall take place on schedule.

All elections will take place on schedule.
  

Top answer

Shall is often used to express obligations, esp. in legal contexts.

— Inchoateknowledge

  • Shall is often used to express obligations, esp.
  • in legal contexts.
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8 Answers
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Shall is often used to express obligations, esp. in legal contexts.
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Yes, that's right. So the shall version is unambigous, but the will version is not, right?
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"will" expresses obligation too.

You will do what I say, right?
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Inchoateknowledge"will" expresses obligation too.

You will do what I say, right?

There, yes, but it isn't so clear in "All elections will take place on schedule.".
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Yes, with "will" it could express an opinion, like "Don't worry, all elections will take place on schedule".
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MilkyI get a feeling that in (a) the authority of the speaker is clear, but in (b) it is not. Am I right?

All elections shall take place on schedule.

All elections will take place on schedule.
Hi Milky

Shall derives from an Old English verb sculan, one of whose meanings was must, to have to.
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