shall vs will

[Lilish]

Hello there;
would you you please tell me what's the short and long answer to a question with 'shall' ;for exampel:"shall we go out tonight?"(plesae include negative as well as posetive answer in your replies) I want to know what other 'Auxiliary' we should use in short answer.

Thank you all!

[Jamie (K)]

First I'll mention that most native English speakers in the world don't use "shall" anymore, even with first person subjects. It has been replaced largely by "should", "do you want to," or "would you like to". Generally, when "shall" is used, it is for the purpose of emphasizing one's definite intention to do something, such as, "I shall absolutely finish it on time." When someone is asked if he will do something, on some occasions you will hear the person respond formally, "I will and I shall," meaning, "I intend to do it, and I absolutely will do it."

There will probably be no auxiliary at all in the answer to a suggestion containing "shall". If there is one, it definitely won't be "shall", because that would mean that one is predicting the future instead of responding to the suggestion. So the answer to, "Shall we go out tonight?" will be something like, "Yes, let's go," or, "Great idea! I'd like to." It would simply be an expression of the speaker's feeling about the suggestion, and it would not be based on the question itself.