As an auxiliary, shall indicates a duty or necessity whose obligation is derived from the person speaking; as, you shall go; he shall go; that is, I order or promise your going. It thus ordinarily expresses, in the second and third persons, a command, a threat, or a promise. If the auxillary be emphasized, the command is made more imperative, the promise or that more positive and sure. It is also employed in the language of prophecy; as, "the day shall come when . . ., " since a promise or threat and an authoritative prophecy nearly coincide in significance. In shall with the first person, the necessity of the action is sometimes implied as residing elsewhere than in the speaker; as, I shall suffer; we shall see; and there is always a less distinct and positive assertion of his volition than is indicated by will. "I shall go" implies nearly a simple futurity; more exactly, a foretelling or an expectation of my going, in which, naturally enough, a certain degree of plan or intention may be included; emphasize the shall, and the event is described as certain to occur, and the expression approximates in meaning to our emphatic "I will go." In a question, the relation of speaker and source of obligation is of course transferred to the person addressed; as, "Shall you go?" (answer, "I shall go"); "Shall he go?" i. e., "Do you require or promise his going?" (answer, "He shall go".) The same relation is transferred to either second or third person in such phrases as "You say, or think, you shall go;" "He says, or thinks, he shall go." After a conditional conjunction (as if, whether) shall is used in all persons to express futurity simply; as, if I, you, or he shall say they are right. Should is everywhere used in the same connection and the same senses as shall, as its imperfect.That is to say,"Shall" is used to indicate future action. It is most commonly used in sentences with "I" or "we," and is often found in suggestions, such as "Shall we go?" "Shall" is also frequently used in promises or voluntary actions. In formal English, the use of "shall" to describe future events often expresses inevitability or predestination. "Shall" is much more commonly heard in British English than in American English; Americans prefer to use other forms, although they do sometimes use "shall" in suggestions or formalized language.
Examples:
- Shall I help you? suggestion
- I shall never forget where I came from. promise
- He shall become our next king. predestination
- I'm afraid Mr. Smith shall become our new director. inevitability
More Examples of "Shall"
| Modal Use | Positive Forms | Negative Forms | You can also use: |
| shall future action (British form) | I shall be replaced by someone from the New York office. I shall be there by 8:00. | I shall not be replaced after all. I shall not be there. I have a previous obligation. | will |
| shall suggestions | Shall we begin dinner? Shall we move into the living room? | should | |
| shall volunteering, promising (British form) | I shall take care of everything for you. I shall make the travel arrangements. There's no need to worry. | I shall never forget you. I shall never give up the fight for freedom. | will |
| shall inevitability (British form) | Man shall explore the distant regions of the universe. We shall overcome oppression. | Man shall never give up the exploration of the universe. He shall not be held back. |
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