"Then, having used up the powers of the Golden Cap, Ishall give it to the King of the Monkeys, that he and his band may thereafter be free for evermore."
Shall is about one-fourth as common aswill in North America compared to in the United Kingdom. Lack of exposure leads many in North America to consider it formal or evenpompous orarchaic, best reserved for court decisions and legal contracts. North Americans mainly use it in senses two and three.
In law,shall is typically used to impose obligation, though the word can also convey discretionary power or recommendation. Due to its ambiguity, some jurisdictions refrain from using the term in law drafting and official writing.[1][2][3][4]
In the past,will andshall were interchangeable and synonymous, used similarly as auxiliary verbs for the future tense but separate persons. The simple future tense traditionally usedshall for the first person ("I" and "we"), andwill for the second and third persons. This distinction existed largely in formal language and gradually disappeared inEarly Modern English.
Ishall go.
Youwill go.
An emphatic future tense, indicating volition of the speaker—determination, promise, obligation, or permission, depending on the context—, reverses the two words, usingwill for the first person andshall for the second and third person.
Iwill go.
Youshall go.
Usage can be reversed in questions and in dependent clauses—especially with indirect discourse. For example:Shall you do it? anticipates the responseIshall do it. Or:he says that heshall win orhe expects that heshall win anticipate his sayingIshall win, notIwill win.
The second-person singular form (used withthou) is irregular,shalt.Shallest,shalst are rare, often hypercorrect.
The past tense formshould can be used in reported speech, e.g.,I hoped that Ishould find you here. This use ofshould may not be readily apparent to speakers who do not often useshall.
Finnish:use genitive + impersonal olla + present active participle oruse genitive + tulee/täytyy/pitää + first infinitive
You shall go to the ball! -Sinun on mentävä juhlaan! orSinun pitää mennä juhlaan!
Citizens shall provide identity -Kansalaisten on esitettävä henkilöllisyytensä orKansalaisten tulee esittää henkilöllisyytensä
French: (indicating determination)shall followed by the infinitive is translated using the future tense, which can be emphasised using "bien" or a similar adverbial construction; (indicating obligation)devoir,êtreobligé de
You shall go to the ball! -Mais tu iras bien au bal! orAh oui, tu iras au bal!
Citizens shall provide identity -Les citoyens doivent fournir une pièce d'identité orLes citoyens sont obligés de fournir une pièce d'identité
Italian: (indicating determination)shall followed by the infinitive is translated using the future tense, which can be emphasised using "sì che" or a similar adverbial construction; (indicating obligation)dovere,essereobbligato di
You shall go to the ball! -Sì che andrai al ballo!
Citizens shall provide identity -I cittadini devono fornire identificazione orI cittadini sono obbligati a fornire identificazione
^Law Drafting Division, Department of Justice (2012),Drafting Legislation in Hong Kong — A Guide to Styles and Practices[1], page90: “LDD no longer uses “shall” to impose an obligation or its negative forms to impose a prohibition. Moreover, it is not used for any other purpose for which it had been used.”
^Plain Language Action and Information Network (2011),Federal Plain Language Guidelines[2], page25: “Besides being outdated, “shall” is imprecise. It can indicate either an obligation or a prediction. Dropping “shall” is a major step in making your document more user-friendly.”
^New Zealand Law Commission (2012),Legislation Manual: Structure and Style[3], page43: “Although shall is used to impose a duty or a prohibition, it is also used to indicate the future tense. This can lead to confusion. Shall is less and less in common usage, partly because it is difficult to use correctly.”
^Office of Parliamentary Counsel, Australia (2012),Plain English Manual[4], page20: “The traditional style uses “shall” for the imperative. However, the word is ambiguous, as it can also be used to make a statement about the future. Moreover, in common usage it’s not understood as imposing an obligation.”
Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor,A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published1867,page102
