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Shall

Shall: forms​

Affirmative form​

Shall comes first in the verb phrase (after the subject and before another verb). We use it mostly with I and we:

  • I shall post it to you tomorrow.

Shall cannot be used with another modal verb:

  • I shall have to be at the airport by 5 pm.
  • Not: I shall must be … or I must shall be …

Shall can be followed by have to, need to and be able to:

  • We shall have to tell him what happened.
  • The good news is I shall be able to join you at your meeting next week.

Negative form​

The negative form of shall is shan’t. We don’t use don’t, doesn’t, didn’t with shall:

  • I shan’t be home tomorrow night.
  • We shan’t know the result of the tests till Tuesday.

We can use the full form shall not in formal contexts or when we want to emphasis something:

  • [a public notice in a restaurant]
  • The management shall not be responsible for damage to personal property.

We don’t often use the negative form.

See also
  • Modal verbs

Question form​

The subject and shall change position to form questions.

warning

We don’t use do, does, did. The question form, with I and we, is the most common use of shall:

  • Shall I come round to the office?
  • Not: Do I shall come round to the office?

We use shall in question tags:

  • I’ll phone you later, shall I?

Shall: uses​

Offers, suggestions and advice​

We use shall I and shall we to make offers and suggestions, and to ask for advice.

offerShall I carry your bag?
suggestionShall I call again on Thursday?
seeking adviceWhat shall we do with this?

Predictions and intentions​

We use shall instead of will with I and we in rather formal contexts to make predictions and to talk about intentions or decisions. It is much less common than will.

Compare

formalless formal
We shall remember this day forever.We will remember this day forever.
warning

We use shall only with the first person pronouns I and we to make predictions or express intentions:

  • The new business cards will be ready at the end of the month.
  • Not: The new business cards shall be ready at the end of the month.

Commands​

warning

In very formal contexts, we use shall to give commands:

  • [public notice]
  • This door shall be kept closed at all times.
See also
  • Will and shall
  • Commands and instructions

Shall: typical error​

We use should, not shall, for advice and suggestions:

  • In my opinion, we should book another hotel.
  • Not: In my opinion, we shall book another hotel.
See also
  • Should
  • Suggestions