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

Will, shall and ’ll

420a

Promises and undertakings are most commonly realised by ’ll and will:

Can you lend me twenty pounds? 

I

’ll pay you back when I get to the bank.

[speakers are deciding what to give family members as birthday presents]

A: I haven’t thought of anything for Raymond actually. 

B: He’s a bit complicated. 

A: 

I

’ll give him fifty pounds towards his computer

.

So see you Thursday. Don’t worry, 

I 

will be there

.

Very rarely, shall occurs with you, but only in contexts such as promises and

warnings, and only in very formal contexts:

‘When the war’s over, 

you shall have clean water

,’ Esther promised.

✪

The present simple form is not used to make promises and undertakings. This

includes clauses which are the object of speech act verbs such as guarantee,

promise

, undertake:

I

’ll give you a call about seven o’clock.

(I give you a call about seven o’clock.)

[teacher in a computer class addressing pupils]

Apologies to those of you working on spreadsheets. I haven’t managed to

mark any of your work as yet but 

I promise I’ll have it back to you by next

week.

(I promise I have it back to you by next week.)

The speech act verbs (guarantee, promise, etc.) are in the present simple in such

contexts.