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Difference between Shall and Should



 
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Difference between Shall and Should #1 (permalink) Tue Nov 20, 2007 15:42 pm   Difference between Shall and Should
 

please tell me the difference between using Shall and Should while asking Questions..

Like Shall I edit the line? or Should I edit the line?
Shall I give you control or Should I give you control?
Shall I call? or Should I call?
Mangesh
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Difference between Shall and Should #2 (permalink) Tue Nov 20, 2007 16:00 pm   Difference between Shall and Should
 

Mangesh wrote:
please tell me the difference between using Shall and Should while asking Questions..

Like Shall I edit the line? or Should I edit the line?
Shall I give you control or Should I give you control?
Shall I call? or Should I call?


The word shall has extremely limited usage in American English. This is how I would describe the difference between your sentences (in American English):

Shall I edit the line? = I am offering to edit the line.

Should I edit the line? = "Does the line need to be edited?"/"Is it advisable or necessary for me to edit the line?"

Shall I give you control? = I am offering to give you control.

Should I give you control? = "Is it advisable or necessary for me to give you control?"

Shall I call? = I am offering to call.

Should I call? = "Is it advisable or necessary for me to call?"
.
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Difference between Shall and Should #3 (permalink) Tue Nov 20, 2007 16:19 pm   Difference between Shall and Should
 

Hey..!!
Thank u very much..
But still I'm not very much cleared with the concept.
If I want to ask someone then How should I ask?
Should I give u control? or Shall I give you control?
In all questions given by me, I just want to ask someone those Questions.
So please tell me the answer explicitly.
Mangesh
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Joined: 20 Nov 2007
Posts: 4
Location: Pune

Difference between Shall and Should #4 (permalink) Tue Nov 20, 2007 16:39 pm   Difference between Shall and Should
 

Yankee wrote:
The word shall has extremely limited usage in American English.
....
Shall I edit the line? = I am offering to edit the line.



Hi, Amy

I'm wondering how you offer your help then... I mean without using "shall"..? :?
Lost_Soul
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Difference between Shall and Should #5 (permalink) Tue Nov 20, 2007 17:09 pm   Difference between Shall and Should
 

Hi Alex

One of the few remaining usages of the word shall in AmE is in an interrogative sentence which serves as an offer to do something or as a suggestion. Typically such a sentence begins with "Shall I" or "Shall we". Basically, we don't use shall to build a future tense -- we use will.

Of course, suggestions and offers to do something can also be worded other ways, too. A few other ways to offer to do something would be these, for example:
- Can I do that for you?
- Let me help you with that.
- Would you like me to do that for you?


Shall is also sometimes found in legal texts as well as a handful of fixed expressions.

For the British usage(s) of shall, you'll need to ask a Brit and/or do a search on this site. Alan has already rejected my input regarding the American usage of shall on a number of occasions, so obviously there must be some very significant differences in usage between AmE and BE. (:roll:)
.
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Difference between Shall and Should #6 (permalink) Tue Nov 20, 2007 18:21 pm   Difference between Shall and Should
 

Hey..!!
U just tell me.....
where do we use Shall and Should while asking Qns (with other Examples)?
Mangesh
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Joined: 20 Nov 2007
Posts: 4
Location: Pune

Difference between Shall and Should #7 (permalink) Tue Nov 20, 2007 23:08 pm   Difference between Shall and Should
 

Hi Mangehs,

Have you read the sample sentences Amy posted? She's also explained when and how "shall" and "should" is used so -- what exactly would you like to know now? By the way, what about writing "you" instead of "u"?

Thanks,
Torsten

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Difference between Shall and Should #8 (permalink) Tue Nov 27, 2007 18:07 pm   Difference between Shall and Should
 

Hey Torsten,
I'm really sorry that I used U instead of you.
I understood what Amy wanted to tell me. But suppose the condition is like
I want to do some action, so before doing so I just want to ask the responsible person that Should I do this?
So I just want to check it is grammatically correct or not.?
Like this I want to know the other examples too.
Mangesh
New Member


Joined: 20 Nov 2007
Posts: 4
Location: Pune

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