Question
Updated on
1 February
- Spanish (Mexico)
-
English (US)
-
Korean
Question about English (US)
What does Shall mean?
What does Shall mean?
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- English (US)
Shall is a modal verb in the future tense. It means the same as "will" ("In one week, I shall/will be married"), or "should" ("Shall/Should we leave for the party now?).
"Shall" is used in British English, but rarely in American English. American English uses "will" or "should". "Shall" sounds very formal to Americans.
Highly-rated answerer
- English (UK)
- English (US)
It’s a fancy word that talks about the planned future. Most of the time it’s just a fancier way of saying will, but there are times it would sound odd;
E.g.
“I shall miss you” would sound a bit odd because you would be saying you’re planning to miss someone, rather than something that will in general happen in the future.
Quite frankly you can get by without ever using that word, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it
Highly-rated answerer
- Spanish (Mexico)
- English (UK)
- English (US)
A good example of when shall doesnt mean will is when asking something like “shall I change the subject?”
In this case you couldn’t say “will”, because then it would sound like you’re unsure of what you’re going to do. In that sentence, you are asking if you should plan to change the subject, or if the other person thinks it’s a good idea. You could also say “should I change the subject”
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