They are referred to as auxiliary verbs because they cannot make meanings independent of a particular finite verb in a sentence. They are helpers of other verbs in the business of meaning making. For example, you may say, “I shall sleep over at your place.”

Let’s remove the “shall.” Then we have “I sleep over at your place.” What has really changed here? Well, the omission of “shall” has not made the sentence any less grammatical. But there is a change from future tense to a simple present tense. That’s enough to make all the difference. Meaning, the time and place you make the two sentences cannot be the same.

If you erase the main verb “sleep” or the phrasal verb “sleep over,” then your sentence would not only become ungrammatical but also meaningless. We can say the same of “Will.” “Shall” and “Will” therefore help our utterances with a sense of semantic precision where time (future sense) is significant to the shade of meaning we hope to achieve. But does this make “Shall” and “Will” the same words? It’s a capital letter NO because no two words are exactly the same in English. How then do we know when to use “shall” or “will”?

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The grammatical angle

For a long period of time, “shall” and “will” have been used interchangeably because they both have a futuristic hue whenever they appear in a sentence. The standard grammatical demarcation comes with the rule that you use “shall” with the first person pronouns, “I” and “we,” while “will” goes with second and third person pronouns “they,” “she,” “he,” “you,” “it.” Hence, “They will be there,” not “They shall be there.”

The rule is not accurate because in modern English there are circumstances that call for using “will” with the first person personal pronouns “we” and “I.” There are also times you use “shall” with second and third pronouns. When you wish to express command, wish or intention, the roles are reversed. e.g.  “I will rather go home than languish in exile.” This happens when you are expressing something with strong determination or weak resolve.

If a group of persons tells you, “We shall attend the party,” quickly note that they are not likely to be at the party because “shall” does not show their strong desire to be at the party. “We will attend the party.” Here, the group means, no matter what happens, it will be at the party. It’s still the same with “They shall attend the party” and “They will attend the party.”

The speaker is not really sure in the first sentence but he is sure they will attend the party with the second sentence. If you insist I do something, the proper auxiliary verb is “will.” Example, “I will return home at 7:p.m.” Then if I am not sure I’d be back at that time, I’d say, “I shall return home at 7:p.m.”

Practical examples

In this light, let’s examine further sentences that may prove tricky. “The meteorologist says it shall rain.” The meteorologist is a weather expert. His statement is perhaps based on scientific facts but how sure can he be since nothing is as erratic as the weather? This statement is correct because “shall” is weak giving the unpredictability of weather attitudes.

Don’t forget that the rule says third person pronouns should flow with the verb “will” and here we have the meteorologist who is talked about from the third person point of view though no pronoun is mentioned. It is pretty semantically wrong to say, “The meteorologist says it will rain,” because no one can absolutely understand the ways of weather.

The twist to weather forecasting

There is however a twist to this when we change the subject to “God.” Example, “God says it will rain.” God is spoken about in the third person point of view, we are expected to make use of “shall” but “shall” is a weak and uncertain modal auxiliary verb, hence the need to use “will.” Or Can God be wrong? God created the elements, there is no way the elements can spring surprises on Him. When God says it will rain, it WILL SURELY rain.

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Sure and will

Also, the example, “I am sure your kids will love this,” is correct because of the certainty in the voice tone of the speaker. Grammatically “your” expresses second or third person so “will” comes naturally here. If you are not sure, you say, “I am not sure your kids would love this.” “Would” also expresses event that has not taken place.

Expressing suggestions and offers

When you intend expressing suggestions and offers, do not use “will,” instead make use of “shall.” e.g. “Shall I help with the luggage?” “What shall we do now?” “Shall we go?”

The formality of shall

“Shall” is a very formal verb. People soften the formality by substituting it with “will” in utterances while archaic documents, books of laws and scriptures maintain “shall” because of its formalness and the fact that they hope to preserve the spiritual, alter-it-not aura that surrounds them. This is why you have a lot of “thou shall nots” in the Bible and rules and regulations of public places and organizations.

In linguistic performance, “will,” is gaining more grounds because it is appropriate in both formal and informal contexts. If you don’t want to sound colloquial, kindly steer clear of “shall” when you speak. People often go as far as contracting shall and will to ‘ll so that differentiating between them is immaterial.

Written by Omidire Idowu.