Why would doesn't fit here?

[Don Geraldos]

I think the distiction, on both sides of the Atlantic, is between formal and informal speech. I think we agree, the only correct option in the exercise given above, is 'shall'. Informal usage in the UK would often include 'will' as an acceptable alternative. That isn't an option here.

But you can't categorically say that 'shall' (first person, singular and plural) is not used in American English.

"We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back."

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

"We shall overcome them. And we shall replace them with the generous spirit of a people who feel at home with one another. Our rich texture of racial, religious, and political diversity will be a godsend in the 21st century."

"We shall reflect the compassion that is so much a part of your makeup. How can we love our country and not love our countrymen; and loving them, reach out a hand when they fall, heal them when they're sick, and provide opportunity to make them self-sufficient so they will be equal in fact and not just in theory?"

"Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome some day."

[Yankee]

[Alan]

Hi,

I feel I must chip in here since the discussion on 'shall' derives from the use of it in one of my tests. I think it's important to start off by establishing that as English doesn't have a 'proper' future form in its tenses as do many other languages, we're stuck with the two modal type words 'will' and 'shall'. Historically 'shall' was the stronger of the two in its idea of 'pure' future and 'will' was reserved for wanting and wishing. This can be seen when 'shall' is used with second and third person as in - you shall, where the speaker is effectively controlling the other person's future and so giving them an order. And then there's the old joke about Dr Grammar walking past a lake and hearing a man struggling in the water calling out: 'Help! I will drown'. The good doctor ignores the man because he assumes that the man wants to drown. The assumption is that if the man had said 'I shall drown', he would have dived in and saved him. Clearly things have moved on and as a cop-out people often say: 'I'll'. To me 'shall' is somewhat dated or it can be used in a mock dramatic sense or for particular emphasis and it was in the spirit of the latter that I offered: I hope I shall see you again. To me there is a difference here between 'will' and 'shall' - between the almost casual: I hope I will/I'll see you and the much more purposeful: I hope I shall see you where the speaker really means what he says and is going to make a point of seeing this person again.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Everything in the Garden is lovely

[Yankee]

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Thank you very much for your input, Alan. I do appreciate it and it was very informative for me to hear the British perspective. I hope you will take my input in the same spirit.
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