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shall
[ shal; unstressed shuhl ]
auxiliary verb
- plan to, intend to, or expect to:
I shall go later.
- will have to, is determined to, or definitely will:
You shall do it. He shall do it.
- (in laws, directives, etc.) must; is or are obliged to:
The meetings of the council shall be public.
- (used interrogatively in questions, often in invitations):
Shall we go?
shall
/ ʃəl; ʃæl /
verb
- esp withI or we as subject used as an auxiliary to make the future tense Compare will 1
we shall see you tomorrow
- withyou, he, she, it, they, or a noun as subject
- used as an auxiliary to indicate determination on the part of the speaker, as in issuing a threat
you shall pay for this!
- used as an auxiliary to indicate compulsion, now esp in official documents
the Tenant shall return the keys to the Landlord
- used as an auxiliary to indicate certainty or inevitability
our day shall come
- with any noun or pronoun as subject, esp in conditional clauses or clauses expressing doubt used as an auxiliary to indicate nonspecific futurity
he doubts whether he shall be in tomorrow
I don't think I shall ever see her again
Usage
Confusables Note
Word History and Origins
Origin of shall1
Word History and Origins
Origin of shall1
Example Sentences
We shall leave aside the question of how these men live with themselves.
“We shall not pay any attention,” he told the BBC World Service, since Russia had issued similar warnings about “many other systems and weapons we received”.
Thanking the many lawyers for their "excellent contributions," he concluded the hearing by saying: "It's a very difficult matter and it's a very important matter," adding, "I shall issue my judgment in due course."
The earliest on the program, “Jefferson and Liberty” from 1800, included the verse: “Here strangers from thousand shores/Compell’d by tyranny to roam;/Shall find, amidst abundant stores,/A nobler and a happier home.”
Mr. Ramaswamy particularly loves an obscure 1977 law passed by President Jimmy Carter, the Reorganization Act, which states that “the president shall from time to time examine the organization of all agencies and determine what changes are necessary to carry forth the policies in this statute.”
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