May I use the word shall in my scientific thesis?
As in
The relevant ones shall be introduced in the following.
Or is shall considered slang or outdated?
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1Per meta.english.stackexchange.com/a/4722, please ‘never’ use 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚡𝚝 or ˋbackticksˋ on ELU. And I don’t know what you think “slang” is, given the question.– tchrist ♦Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 16:31
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1Well, that’s not what slang means.– tchrist ♦Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 16:51
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1It's certainly a definition of terms. But no one else uses that definition. Surely the only relevant question here is "Will the people evaluating my thesis consider the use of 'shall' a poor style choice?" And we cannot answer that for you. Don't they have a style guide?– Edwin AshworthCommented Jul 8, 2014 at 16:53
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1'shall' is rare in the US in any register. It sounds outdated.– MitchCommented Jul 8, 2014 at 17:42
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2@Mitch There you go again with your low-register generalizations! Shall I really spell it out for you as ’twere some RFC? I assure you that if I must, you shall not be amused.– tchrist ♦Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 22:00
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2 Answers
My credentials: I have read scores upon scores of scientific journal articles, graduate dissertations, and the like. I have several advanced degrees in science, and have been asked by other scientists to proofread their literature.
My thoughts on the matter: The word "shall" in a scientific work jumps out as a bit stilted and artificial. It would sound a bit more natural, to my American ears at least, for you to use the word "will" instead of "shall".
All this being said, your use of the word "shall" doesn't jump out at me as being terribly out of place either. I certainly would not describe it as incorrect.
Shall is neither considered slang nor outdated. From the iPhone application “OED Deluxe”:
Oxford
- (in the first person) expressing the future tense: this time next week I shall be in Scotland | we shan't be gone long.
And a footnote:
Usage
There is considerable confusion about when to use shall and will. The traditional rule in standard British 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), e.g. 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, e.g. 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 (though 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 British and US English.
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1You didn’t write. You said Oxford, which can mean anything. Do you mean the printed OED? Do you mean ODO? Do you mean the current OED Online text? Do you have a link? Please see our Help Center’s section on “How to reference material written by others”.– tchrist ♦Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 16:35
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3It is also worth noting that shall tends to refer to obligations, whereas will, unsurprisingly, reflects the speaker's will - or desire - to do something.– AnonymCommented Jul 8, 2014 at 16:58
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2I'd never say 'The relevant ones shall be introduced in the following' as I consider it sounds less natural than the alternative with 'will' nowadays. I'd find an authority to support my view, but I'd get in trouble by being late for tea. Commented Jul 8, 2014 at 16:59