What is the dfference between will and shall?

In the video you will learn the difference between will and shall, for the future and for making suggestions.

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Transcript:
What's the difference between shall and will ?

Hello and welcome to LetThemTalk today we're going to explain how to use the modal verb shall and talk about the difference between will and shall.

Let's have a look. The first use of shall is for expressing the future and is similar to will.

Look at these two sentences and tell me which you think is correct.

When I have enough money I will buy a new car.

When I have enough money I shall buy a new car.

Well, actually both are correct But. although shall is less often used than will, the traditional rules say that you use shall with the first person I  and we, and will with you, he, she, it and they.

This is because originally, shall was used with the meaning of obligation, and will with the meaning of desire or intention.

But these days most people will use will and not shall as in I will be there tomorrow especially when speaking and that's perfectly correct or, if you contract the sentence I'll be there tomorrow, we don't know if shall or will is being used, and, again it's correct.

There is one advanced point, and, this is only for the traditional rules, if you want to say that something must definitely happen then the rules of shall I mentioned before are switched. So will is used with the first person I and we and shall is used for you, he, she it and they.

This use is rare and usually limited to formal situations and legal documents to talk about obligation for example. The Authority shall be responsible for the safety of the equipment.

And also to talk about giving commands such as the commandment in the bible you shall not kill.

The negative of will is will not or won't when it is contracted. The negative of shall is shall not or shan't when it's is contracted. Although in American English shan't is not used.

Let me just repeat what I said earlier, when talking about the future it's perfectly ok to use will instead of shall but it's good to know the rule in case you hear somebody or read something using shall because it is still used sometimes in conversation as well as in formal written English.

You might get the impression that the use of shall is dying out but there is still one case where shall is still used and that is for making offers, and suggestions. We use it with I and we in questions. Here you cannot substitute will for shall. Let's look at some examples.

For making offers to somebody make a question starting with « shall I «Here are some examples.

You must be thirsty shall I get you a drink.
You're busy shall I call back tomorrow.
Shall I play you a song?
Shall I open the window

If you want to make a suggestion which includes yourself and another person or other people use « shall we » for example.

Shall we go ?
Shall we speak English
shall we chose a different hotel ?
Shall we take the train ?
An important point to remember is that we respond to a suggestion with a shall we question with let's.

For example shall we go.
The response will be « yes, let's. »
Shall we buy a new car « yes, let's
The negative is no let's not.
Shall we stay here « no, let's not »
Shall we stay at this hotel ?
Shall we eat here ?

You can also this shall form to ask for advice or confirmation often with a question word word such as what, when, who or how. Here are some examples

What shall I get Jill for her birthday ?
Whom shall I call ?
When shall we arrive

Remember you must use shall here if you use will it completely changes the meaning. In the last example :

When shall we arrive ? means when do you think is the best time to arrive ?
When will we arrive ? Is a question that asks information about the future and means what time do we arrive at our destination.

That's it so just to sum up you can use will or shall for the future with we or I but will is more common but when you make questions for offers, suggestions and advice with « we or I » then use shall.
Thank you for watching more English grammar videos coming soon

[emo]

Finally I found the teacher who explained these fine nuances. Thumbs up!

[leeshaoloung]

Glad to see you r still teaching traditional rules of English grammar. Nowadays a lot English books and style guides don’t teach the nuances of shall and will. They all use will.

[umcia]

Highly enlightening video. Thanks man, one of the explanations I needed the most.

[BenzinioB]

Thanks for the lesson :)
I did not know the formal, traditional meaning - useful as always!

[kenza]

I like the way you explain the lessons!

[antoniotenorio]

Hi Gideon, I quite like your videos. I have just found out recently and they are very useful for me to consolidate my English learning. Please keep up the good job!
Antonio from Spain

[beatrizmendez]

Thank you so much for your clear explanations. You also deal interestingly with not so common grammar points. I can't wait for your next talk.

[ooR]

Excellent professor! I learn a lot watching on these videos.

[yadifrancis]

I shall continue watching these usefull clases.

[vinipuhja]

My spoken English becomes better and better after your videos!

[Jr-ftii]

This lesson is quite superb! English never stops surprising me 🤩. There is always something to dig into further. And you're such an outstanding teacher, you always provide rich explanations that others omit 👏👏👏. Thank you!

[gracezanzibar]

Your lessons are fantastic Thanks so much

[zwurtlc]

there is a good example of using "shall" as obligation:
"...We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender..."
Winston Churchill
"You shall not pass" is another good example from Gandalf 🙂

[crazyiguana]

Very useful videos for advanced learners.

[jaihanuman]

Right now I understand the difference between shall and will. That's great thank you sir ...love from India..

[urielaldezabal]

Amazing video.
Greetings from Argentina

[lostwizard]

As a native English speaker from across the pond, I found this interesting since it's something that I wondered about for a long time. Personally, I find the "old rules" to be completely illogical and useless, likely because those constructions basically don't exist here.

Indeed, we hardly ever use "shall" in these parts. In most cases, it is replaced with either "will" (future tense) or "should" (query/discussion setup). So "When should we arrive"? instead of "When shall we arrive?". About the only time I've notied "shall" being used is in the "Shall we?" construction where the meaning is subtly different to "Should we?". I think I'm going to have to keep an ear out for "shall" in the future and see if there are any other cases in these parts.

[rolandoe.diazolivom.d.]

It was such a pity I was never taught any lesson about the modal verb "shall". I learned to use it in sentences much later on - without acknowledging I was using it when making a suggestion or an offer. Thank you for clarifying this last point (as well as the other ones you pointed out in this video).

The answer "Let's" for those questions using the verb "shall" holds 100% in Spanish. If you were to ask: "¿Bailamos?" ("Shall we dance?"), the affirmative answer would be: "Sí, vamos." ("Yes, let's.")

As for the questions I have seen in the comments regarding the use of "shall" versus "should" when posing a question: I think both forms are correct. What is at variance on both is the mode of the verb used at the particular time in which the question is being formulated. For example:

01. "Shall" is more often used when the sentence is constructed in the indicative mode (e.g. to affirm or confirm the action of the main verb - even in its negative form);

02. "Should" is more appropriate when the sentence is being phrased in the subjunctive mode (e.g. to express the adequacy or desirability of the action at hand).

[capuanod]

Another relevant video on English. Teacher, when you talk about the 'shall' use for obligation, could it be understood as a stronger form of 'should'? Like, does shall/should form a pair, like will/would?

[elois]

Thank you so much! I now understand what General MacArthur meant when he said, "I shall return"! :)