Editing Shall and will (section)

==Etymology==
{{see also|English modal verbs#Etymology}}
The verb ''shall'' derives from [[Old English language|Old English]] ''sceal''. Its [[cognate]]s in other [[Germanic languages]] include [[Old Norse language|Old Norse]] ''skal'', [[German language|German]] ''soll'', and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] ''zal''; these all represent *''skol-'', the [[Indo-European ablaut|o-grade]] of Indo-European *''skel''-.  All of these verbs function as [[auxiliary verb|auxiliaries]], representing either simple futurity, or necessity or obligation.

The verb ''will'' derives from Old English ''willan'', meaning to want or wish. Cognates include Old Norse ''vilja'', German ''wollen'' (''ich/er/sie will,'' meaning ''I/he/she want/s to''), Dutch ''willen'', [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''wiljan''. It also has relatives in non-Germanic languages, such as [[Latin]] ''velle'' ("wish for") and ''voluptas'' ("pleasure"), and [[Polish language|Polish]] ''woleć'' ("prefer"). All of these forms derive from the e-grade or o-grade of Indo-European *''wel-'', meaning to wish for or desire. Within English, the modal verb ''will'' is also related to the noun ''will'' and the regular lexical verb ''will'' (as in "She willed him on").

Early Germanic did not inherit any [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] forms to express the [[future tense]], and so the Germanic languages have innovated by using auxiliary verbs to express the future (this is evidenced in Gothic and in the earliest recorded Germanic expressions). In English, ''shall'' and ''will'' are the auxiliaries that came to be used for this purpose. (Another auxiliary used as such in Old English was ''mun'', which is related to [[Scots language|Scots]] ''maun'', Modern English ''must'' and [[Dutch Language|Dutch]] ''moet.'')