Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Making offers and seeking advice

Shall

in first person interrogatives is much more frequent than other uses of shall

and is common in the making of offers and suggestions, and in seeking advice:

So as soon as Bob comes back, Ken, 

shall I give you a ring?

Shall we go and have a walk in the garden?

A: What shall I do? Come in first thing in the morning then? 

B: Mm, that’s probably the best thing, yeah.

WILL, SHALL AND ‘LL

389

Will

is almost ten times more frequent than shall in spoken and written texts

taken together. The contracted form ’ll is almost three times more frequent than

the full forms will and shall taken together. 

Shall

is, in general, not very frequent, but is twice as common in spoken texts as

in written texts because of the use of shall I/we to make suggestions or to seek

advice.

Although shall I/we is the normal form for making suggestions, in informal

conversation will I/we also sometimes occurs instead:

[a couple, A and B, are organising food for a dinner party]

A: Will I bring out the salads? 

B: No. But, erm, is this fish cooked? 

Û

also 363 and 365 for discussion of the use of ’ll and for comparisons between

will

and be going to