Dictionary of English - shall or will

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Shall and will are both used as auxiliary verbs to form the future tense. In standard British English, the traditional difference between the two is that shall is used with I and we: I shall leave and will is used with nouns and you, he, she, it and they: You will stay. In practice, though, shall is going out of use in this role, and will is widely used for the first person: I will leave. This is now widely accepted as part of standard English. In American English, will is the norm in all persons for the future tense.

A parallel development has been the gradual decline of will in the first person and shall in the second and third persons to express determination, promises or commands. I will leave now indicates merely intention, not, as in the past, determination; and usages like Cinderella, you shall go to the ball now sound rather old-fashioned.

The first person shall does survive as a way of making a suggestion or asking a question: Shall I put the light on? means 'Would you like me to put the light on?', not 'Am I going to put the light on?'

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