Editing Shall and will (section)

{{short description|Discussion of modal verbs}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Shall'' and ''will''}}{{Citations needed|date=April 2024}}

'''''Shall''''' and '''''will''''' are two of the [[English modal verbs]]. They have various uses, including the expression of propositions about the [[future]], in what is usually referred to as the [[future tense]] of English.

Historically,   [[prescriptive grammar]] stated that, when expressing pure futurity (without any additional meaning such as desire or command), ''shall'' was to be used when the subject was in the [[grammatical person|first person]], and ''will'' in other cases (e.g., "On Sunday, we shall go to church, and the preacher will read the Bible.") This rule is no longer commonly adhered to by any group of English speakers, and ''will'' has essentially replaced ''shall'' in nearly all contexts.

''Shall'' is, however, still widely used in bureaucratic documents, especially documents written by lawyers. Owing its use in varying legal contexts, its meaning can be ambiguous; the [[United States government]]'s [[Plain language|Plain Language]] group advises writers not to use the word at all.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url = https://www.plainlanguage.gov/guidelines/conversational/shall-and-must/|title = Shall and must|access-date = August 4, 2014|website = plainlanguage.gov}}</ref> Other legal drafting experts, including Plain Language advocates, argue that while ''shall'' can be ambiguous in [[statute]]s (which most of the cited litigation on the word's interpretation involves), [[Procedural law|court rules]], and consumer contracts, that reasoning does not apply to the language of business contracts.<ref name=Adams>Kenneth Adams, [https://www.adamsdrafting.com/downloads/nylj-shall-101807.pdf "Making Sense of 'Shall'"], ''New York Law Journal'', October 18, 2007.</ref> These experts recommend using ''shall'' but only to impose an obligation on a contractual party that is the subject of the sentence, i.e., to convey the meaning "hereby has a duty to".<ref name=Adams/><ref>Chadwick C. Busk, [https://www.michbar.org/file/barjournal/article/documents/pdf4article3230.pdf "Using ''Shall'' or ''Will'' to Create Obligations in Business Contracts"], ''Michigan Bar Journal'', pp. 50-52, October 2017.</ref><ref>[http://www.nysba.org/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=53460 "Basic Concepts in Drafting Contracts"], presented by Vincent R. Martorana to the New York State Bar Association, December 10, 2014 (via Reed Smith University).</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fox |first=Charles M. |date=4 August 2006 |title=Teaching Contract Skills to Teaching Contract Skills to Young Lawyers |url=http://apps.americanbar.org/buslaw/newsletter/0052/materials/pp3.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222223237/http://apps.americanbar.org/buslaw/newsletter/0052/materials/pp3.pdf |archive-date=22 December 2018 |website=[[American Bar Association]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Transactional Skills Training: Contract Drafting - The Basics |url=https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1162&context=transactions |website=Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange}}</ref><ref>[https://www.law.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Tips-for-Achieving-Clarity-in-Contract-Drafting.pdf Tips for Achieving Clarity in Contract Drafting]</ref>