Editing Shall and will (section)

==Derived forms and pronunciation==
Both ''shall'' and ''will'' come from verbs that had the [[preterite-present verb|preterite-present]] conjugation in Old English (and generally in Germanic), meaning that they were [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugated]] using the [[Germanic strong verb|strong preterite]] form (i.e., the usual past tense form) as the [[present tense]]. Because of this, like the other [[English modal verbs|modal verbs]], they do not take the usual ''-s'' in Modern English's third-person singular present; we say ''she shall'' and ''he will'' – not *''she shalls'', and not *''he wills'' (except in the sense of "to will" being a synonym of "to want" or "to write into a [[will and testament|will]]"). Archaically, there were, however, the variants ''shalt'' and ''wilt'', which were used with ''[[thou]]''.

Both verbs also have their own [[preterite]] (past) forms, namely ''should'' and ''would'', which derive from the actual preterites of the Old English verbs (made using the dental suffix that forms the preterites of [[Germanic weak verb|weak verb]]s). These forms have developed a range of meanings, frequently independent of those of ''shall'' and ''will'' (as described in the section on [[#Should and would|''should'' and ''would'']] below). Aside from this, though, ''shall'' and ''will'' (like the other modals) are [[defective verb]]s – they do not have other grammatical forms such as [[infinitive]]s, [[imperative mood|imperative]]s or [[participle]]s. (For instance, ''I want to will eat something'' or ''He's {{Not a typo|shalling}} go to sleep'' do not exist.)

Both ''shall'' and ''will'' may be [[contraction (grammar)|contracted]] to ''-'ll'', most commonly in affirmative statements where they follow a subject pronoun. Their [[negation (grammar)|negation]]s, ''shall not'' and ''will not'', also have contracted forms: ''shan't'' and ''won't'' (although ''shan't'' is rarely used in North America, and is becoming rarer elsewhere too). {{Cross reference|See [[English auxiliaries and contractions]].}}

The pronunciation of ''will'' is {{IPAc-en|w|I|l}}, and that of ''won't'' is {{IPAc-en|w|oU|n|t}}. However ''shall'' has distinct [[weak and strong forms in English|weak and strong pronunciations]]: {{IPAc-en|ʃ|əl}} when unstressed, and {{IPAc-en|ʃ|æ|l}} when stressed. ''Shan't'' is pronounced {{IPAc-en|ʃ|ɑː|n|t}} in England, New Zealand, South Africa etc.; in North America (if used) it is pronounced {{IPAc-en|ʃ|æ|n|t}}, and both forms are acceptable in Australia (due to the unique course of the [[trap–bath split]]).