Shall and Will
252. The principal trouble in the use of _shall_ and _will_ is the
disposition, especially in the United States, to use _will_ and
_would_, to the neglect of _shall_ and _should_, with pronouns of the first person; as, "I think I _will_ go."
[Sidenote: _Uses of_ shall _and_ should.]
The following distinctions must be observed:--
(1) With the FIRST PERSON, shall and should are used,--
[Sidenote: _Futurity and questions--first person._]
(_a_) In making simple statements or predictions about future time;
as,--
The time will come full soon, I _shall_ be gone.
--L.C.MOULTON.
(_b_) In questions asking for orders, or implying obligation or
authority resting upon the subject; as,--
With respect to novels, what _shall_ I say?--N. WEBSTER.
How _shall_ I describe the luster which at that moment burst upon my vision?--C. BROCKDEN BROWN.
[Sidenote: _Second and third persons._]
(2) With the SECOND AND THIRD PERSONS, _shall_ and _should_ are used,--
(_a_) To express authority, in the form of command, promise, or
confident prediction. The following are examples:--
Never mind, my lad, whilst I live thou _shalt_ never want a
friend to stand by thee.--IRVING.
They _shall_ have venison to eat, and corn to hoe.--COOPER.
The sea _shall_ crush thee; yea, the ponderous wave up the loose
beach _shall_ grind and scoop thy grave.--THAXTER.
She _should_ not walk, he said, through the dust and heat of
the noonday;
Nay, she _should_ ride like a queen, not plod along like a
peasant.--LONGFELLOW.
(_b_) In _indirect quotations_, to express the same idea that the
original speaker put forth (i.e., future action); for example,--
He declares that he _shall_ win the purse from you.--BULWER.
She rejects his suit with scorn, but assures him that she _shall_
make great use of her power over him.--MACAULAY.
Fielding came up more and more bland and smiling, with the
conviction that he _should_ win in the end.--A. LARNED.
Those who had too presumptuously concluded that they _should_ pass without combat were something disconcerted.--SCOTT.
(_c_) With _direct questions_ of the second person, when the answer expected would express simple futurity; thus,--
"_Should_ you like to go to school at Canterbury?"--DICKENS.
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