LET IT BE
The verbs “shall” and “will” keep trying to elbow each other out of the way, but you can give yourself some guidance on how to handle them, says HUMPHREY EVANS
IN THE midst of all the nostalgia of the 40th anniversary of the events of 1968, one of the founders of the radical newspaper Black Dwarf quoted, in a commemorative piece, the slogan featured on the cover of the first issue: WE SHALL FIGHT/WE SHALL WIN. Sadly for him, a reproduction of that cover appeared alongside: WE SHALL FIGHT/WE WILL WIN.
Shall and will, it seems, can confuse even wised-up former revolutionaries.
People will tell you there is a rule, although it is far from simple. For straightforward futurity you write: I or we “shall”; you, he, she, it or they “will”. You reverse this when assertion or command or something altogether more subjective involving intention or volition takes over: I or we “will”; you, he, she, it or they “shall”.
These same people, however, are then likely to tell you that this distinction only really applies in southern England, and, even there, only among the more rarefied intellectual classes.
Most people get by on “will” alone. But “shall” is still out there.
It’s there in the world of high political language, perhaps most famously in the US constitution’s first amendment: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”
It’s there in legal language: “The landlord shall maintain all common areas.” And in the language of national and international standards: “All welds shall be inspected.” In these contexts it effectively means ”must”.
It’s there in the prediction of the civil rights anthem: “We shall overcome.” In the tentativeness of “Shall we dance?” from the musical The King and I. And in the fairy godmother’s promise to Cinderella: “You shall go to the ball.”
From my point of view, I’ve given up. My own rule when editing has become this: whatever anybody writes, leave it be. It’s right for them. What I may have to do is establish the overtones and context of what they are up to and make sure the surrounding wordage conveys that meaning. Whether prediction, promise, request, command, requirement, it shall be so.