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Which is the correct use of these two words, and in which context should one be used rather than the other?

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Another interesting and important question is why we have these two words to form the future tense? What's the origin of the words, and why have both survived? Will both survive? – Charlie Aug 6 '10 at 1:14
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It is very interesting to see answers to related question that @Edward Tanguay included in his answer: "I often have wondered in which parts of the world (England?) and which social echelons using "shall" in statements is actually still practiced by native speakers?" – rem Aug 7 '10 at 17:04
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In the US defense industry, product specifications contain the word "shall" to identify contractual obligations as in "The system shall handle 100 widgets per second". If the word "will" replaced shall in that sentence, the requirement would not be considered a contractual obligation. The people who write system specifications and statements of work use "shall" throughout engineering documents to indicate those capabilities the system must have to meet the spec. Yes the language sounds stilted, but every "shall" reinforces the contractual nature of the requirement. – John Satta Jan 14 '11 at 20:45
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@John S: not just in the defense industry, it's common in formal requirement specifications. (e.g. in the medical products industry as well) – sibbaldiopsis Apr 16 '11 at 15:09
When you attend your local Renaissance Festival. – iterationx Sep 8 '11 at 16:04
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9 Answers

up vote 26 down vote

Here is a good description of when to use shall:

...shall is used for the future tense with the first-person pronouns I and We: I shall, we shall. Will is used with the first-person (again, I refer to traditional usage) only when we wish to express determination. The opposite is true for the second-person (you) and third-person (he, she, it, they) pronouns: Will is used in the future tense, and shall is used only when we wish to express determination or to emphasize certainty.

However,growing up as a native American speaker in Colorado, I never used "shall" in normal speech. However, I believe in questions it has become more common, e.g. Shall we go? but an American native speaker saying e.g. "I shall do that for you" will almost always sound affected or connote a Shakespearean context. I often have wondered in which parts of the world (England?) and which social echelons using "shall" in statements is actually still practiced by native speakers.

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"I shall" sounds odd in colloquial British English too. – psmears Jan 12 '11 at 20:38
shall is used much more frequently in British English I belive, though predominantly by the upper classes. – Noldorin Jan 14 '11 at 19:55
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@Noldorin that is the connotation given by the use of "shall" it seems. When imagining someone saying "You shall (not) do this.", I imagine a figure in authority attempting to be overbearing. Thinking along the lines of the 10 commandments "Thou shalt not", the word of someone in authority telling you how to do something. – Aequitarum Custos Feb 20 '11 at 20:41
Yeah, that's a fair interpretation for modern usage. In the past (and strictly even now), it's a matter of grammar, though I'm not sure on the ultimate origins in Old English. – Noldorin Feb 20 '11 at 22:14
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The main place I've seen the word used is in rulebooks, emphasizing the connotation of certainty; "when a penalty is called, the official shall place the puck at the closest face-off circle..." etc. As was said, it's all about the authoritative connotation of that word versus "will". – KeithS Jun 14 '11 at 21:21
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up vote 8 down vote

Don't forget that 'shall' at the start of a question is used to make a suggestion:

Shall we play tennis?

But 'will' at the start of a question does not have the same meaning:

Will we play tennis?

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"not the same meaning" is not clear enough for non-native speakers – belisarius Sep 10 '11 at 20:34
up vote 6 down vote

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shall_and_will

Shall and will are both modal verbs in English used to express propositions about the future. According to the New Oxford Dictionary of English, In modern English the interchangeable use of shall and will is an acceptable part of standard British and US English.

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This is a bit too generalised. 'Acceptable' by whose standards? – Matt Sep 12 '11 at 17:14
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It's not quite even true. In most dialects, shall and will are not interchangeable in first person questions. – Peter Shor Apr 3 '12 at 18:45
up vote 5 down vote

"Shall" originally indicated owing to do something. "Will" originally, and sometimes still, indicates a desire to do something. Eventually, they both came to indicate the future, but "will" usurped the place of "shall," at least in my part of Virginia. As far as I can tell, "'ll" has since taken the place of will. :)

EDIT: Should have included a link or two to begin with, not to mention double-checked my answer. Whoops, sorry.

Etymology of "will": http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=will

And as opposed to "shall": http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=shall

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"Would" indicates a desire. "Will" does not. – Vincent McNabb Aug 13 '10 at 5:43
@Vincent: Actually, I did misremember the meaning of "shall," but will does indicate desire. I'm editing in a link. – kitukwfyer Aug 13 '10 at 13:54
is right. Will does indeed indicate desire. – Noldorin Jan 14 '11 at 19:57
+1 for the etymologies! I didn't know that site existed, looks like a great resource. – Noldorin Jan 14 '11 at 19:57
See my comment to the OP that "shall" is a legal contractual obligation (in the US defense industry) and "will" or any other word indicates just "nice to have". – John Satta Jan 14 '11 at 20:48
up vote 2 down vote

The note about the usage of shall in the New Oxford American Dictionary is the following:

There is considerable confusion about when to use shall and will.
The traditional rule in standard English is that shall is used with first person pronouns (I and we) to form the future tense, while will is used with second and third persons (you, he, she, it, they): I shall be late; she will not be there.
When expressing a strong determination to do something, the traditional rule is that will is used with the first person, and shall with the second and third persons: I will not tolerate this; you shall go to school.
In practice, however, shall and will are today used more or less interchangeably in statements (although not in questions). Given that the forms are frequently contracted (we'll, she'll, etc.), there is often no need to make a choice between shall and will, another factor no doubt instrumental in weakening the distinction. In modern English, the interchangeable use of shall and will is an acceptable part of standard U.S. and British English.

When I started my classes on British English, I was taught that I shall go home was the future tense of I go home; asking to a person living in the east coast of the USA, I learned that I shall be late (or I shall return) has a slightly different meaning from I will be late (or I will return), at least in some contexts.

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All the but last sentence of this answer is in a block quote. Is this a quotation from some other work? – nohat♦ Aug 13 '10 at 3:19
I expanded my answer, which was not complete. Thank you for pointing out that. – kiamlaluno Aug 13 '10 at 9:28
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+1 Interesting. As an example of "will" to indicate a strong determination to do something: "Will you marry me?" – b.roth Aug 13 '10 at 10:49
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@Bruno Rothgiesser: Yes, indeed. Another interesting example of the way the two words are sometimes used to express different shades of meaning is the story of two (hypothetical) drowning men - one calls "I shall drown, and nobody will save me"; the other "I will drown and nobody shall save me". The former gets rescued (because he is expressing his fear); the latter does not (because he is expressing his determination to perish)! – psmears Jan 12 '11 at 20:41
up vote 0 down vote

Another distinction I've heard people make is that "shall" implies a deliberate action and "will" implies a result ("I shall sing and the crystal will crack"). Strictly conversations, so no authorities to quote here.

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up vote 0 down vote

In some contexts, such as legal contracts or formal standards, shall indicates an obligation or command, whereas will might be interpreted as an observation or prediction.

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up vote 0 down vote

shall/should is stronger and heavier in emphasis than will/would. Eg. statements that I can think off right off my mind for comparison in connotation would be:

He shall/should be doing it.

versus.

He will/would be doing it.

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up vote 0 down vote

Collins English Dictionary defines 'will' and 'shall' as follow:

Will: (you, he, she, it, they, or a noun as subject) used as an auxiliary to make the future tense.

Shall: (I or we as subject) used as an auxiliary to make the future tense.

So:

  • I shall be at home tonight.

  • Will you come round.

Let us use 'will' instead of 'shall', if we want to emphasize. So:

  • I will be ready on time, I promise.

  • I do not care what your wicked stepmother says: you shall go to the ball.

But if you want to see what may happen when we reverse 'will' with 'shall', and vice versa, read the following sentences:

  • I shall drown, no one will save me. (I should like to be saved but everyone is ignoring me.)

  • I will drown, no one shall save me. (I am determined to drown. I forbid anyone to throw a life belt.)

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The dictionary might say that, but no one uses 'shall' in AmE (it's recognizable from the Christian Ten Commandments an legal documents, but no one would naturally use it in speech or writing). I don't know about BrE. – Mitch Apr 5 '12 at 13:43

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