Shall vs. Will

Shallverb

Used before a verb to indicate the simple future tense in the first person singular or plural.

Shallverb

Used similarly to indicate determination or obligation in the second and third persons singular or plural.

Shallverb

Used in questions with the first person singular or plural to suggest a possible future action.

Shallverb

(obsolete) To owe.

Shallverb

To owe; to be under obligation for.

Shallverb

To be obliged; must.

Shallverb

As an auxiliary, shall indicates a duty or necessity whose obligation is derived from the person speaking; as, you shall go; he shall go; that is, I order or promise your going. It thus ordinarily expresses, in the second and third persons, a command, a threat, or a promise. If the auxillary be emphasized, the command is made more imperative, the promise or that more positive and sure. It is also employed in the language of prophecy; as, "the day shall come when . . . , " since a promise or threat and an authoritative prophecy nearly coincide in significance. In shall with the first person, the necessity of the action is sometimes implied as residing elsewhere than in the speaker; as, I shall suffer; we shall see; and there is always a less distinct and positive assertion of his volition than is indicated by will. "I shall go" implies nearly a simple futurity; more exactly, a foretelling or an expectation of my going, in which, naturally enough, a certain degree of plan or intention may be included; emphasize the shall, and the event is described as certain to occur, and the expression approximates in meaning to our emphatic "I will go." In a question, the relation of speaker and source of obligation is of course transferred to the person addressed; as, "Shall you go?" (answer, "I shall go"); "Shall he go?" i. e., "Do you require or promise his going?" (answer, "He shall go".) The same relation is transferred to either second or third person in such phrases as "You say, or think, you shall go;" "He says, or thinks, he shall go." After a conditional conjunction (as if, whether) shall is used in all persons to express futurity simply; as, if I, you, or he shall say they are right. Should is everywhere used in the same connection and the same senses as shall, as its imperfect. It also expresses duty or moral obligation; as, he should do it whether he will or not. In the early English, and hence in our English Bible, shall is the auxiliary mainly used, in all the persons, to express simple futurity. (Cf. Will, v. t.) Shall may be used elliptically; thus, with an adverb or other word expressive of motion go may be omitted.

Willverb

To wish, desire (something).

Willverb

To wish or desire (that something happen); to intend (that).

Willverb

(auxiliary) To habitually do (a given action).

Willverb

(auxiliary) To choose to (do something), used to express intention but without any temporal connotations (+ bare infinitive).

Willverb

(auxiliary) Used to express the future tense, sometimes with some implication of volition when used in the first person. Compare shall.

Willverb

(auxiliary) To be able to, to have the capacity to.

Willverb

(archaic) To wish, desire.

Willverb

To instruct (that something be done) in one's will.

Willverb

(transitive) To try to make (something) happen by using one's will (intention).

Willverb

(transitive) To bequeath (something) to someone in one's will (legal document).

Willnoun

One's independent faculty of choice; the ability to be able to exercise one's choice or intention.

Willnoun

One's intention or decision; someone's orders or commands.

Willnoun

The act of choosing to do something; a person’s conscious intent or volition.

Willnoun

A formal declaration of one's intent concerning the disposal of one's property and holdings after death; the legal document stating such wishes.

Willnoun

(archaic) That which is desired; one's wish.

Willnoun

(archaic) Desire, longing. (Now generally merged with later senses.)

Willnoun

The power of choosing; the faculty or endowment of the soul by which it is capable of choosing; the faculty or power of the mind by which we decide to do or not to do; the power or faculty of preferring or selecting one of two or more objects.

Willnoun

The choice which is made; a determination or preference which results from the act or exercise of the power of choice; a volition.

Willnoun

The choice or determination of one who has authority; a decree; a command; discretionary pleasure.

Willnoun

Strong wish or inclination; desire; purpose.

Willnoun

That which is strongly wished or desired.

Willnoun

Arbitrary disposal; power to control, dispose, or determine.

Willnoun

The legal declaration of a person's mind as to the manner in which he would have his property or estate disposed of after his death; the written instrument, legally executed, by which a man makes disposition of his estate, to take effect after his death; testament; devise. See the Note under Testament, 1.

Willverb

To wish; to desire; to incline to have.

Willverb

As an auxiliary, will is used to denote futurity dependent on the verb. Thus, in first person, "I will" denotes willingness, consent, promise; and when "will" is emphasized, it denotes determination or fixed purpose; as, I will go if you wish; I will go at all hazards. In the second and third persons, the idea of distinct volition, wish, or purpose is evanescent, and simple certainty is appropriately expressed; as, "You will go," or "He will go," describes a future event as a fact only. To emphasize will denotes (according to the tone or context) certain futurity or fixed determination.

Willverb

To be willing; to be inclined or disposed; to be pleased; to wish; to desire.

Willverb

To form a distinct volition of; to determine by an act of choice; to ordain; to decree.

Willverb

To enjoin or command, as that which is determined by an act of volition; to direct; to order.

Willverb

To give or direct the disposal of by testament; to bequeath; to devise; as, to will one's estate to a child; also, to order or direct by testament; as, he willed that his nephew should have his watch.

Willverb

To exercise an act of volition; to choose; to decide; to determine; to decree.

Willnoun

the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention;

Willnoun

a fixed and persistent intent or purpose;

Willnoun

a legal document declaring a person's wishes regarding the disposal of their property when they die

Willverb

decree or ordain;

Willverb

have in mind;

Willverb

determine by choice;

Willverb

leave or give by will after one's death;