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Sorting Out Shall, Shan't, Will, and Won't

In THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE (first published in 1936) H.L. Mencken wrote: "the distinction between will and shall, preserved in Standard English but already breaking down in the most correct American, has been lost entirely. Will has replaced shall completely save in the imperative. This preference extends to the inflections of both."

Michael Swan in PRACTICAL ENGLISH USAGE (1995) wrote: "British people use I shall/I will and we shall/we will with no difference in meaning in most situations."

British and American usage of these words has always differed. H.W. Fowler explained the proper English syntax as well as anyone has in THE KING'S ENGLISH (1908). It took him over 7300 words to do so. As Fowler admitted:

It is unfortunate that the idiomatic use, while it comes by nature to southern Englishmen (who will find most of this section superfluous), is so complicated that those who are not to the manner born can hardly acquire it; and for them the section is in danger of being useless. In apology for the length of these remarks it must be said that the short and simple directions often given are worse than useless. The observant reader soon loses faith in them from their constant failure to take him right; and the unobservant is the victim of false security.

(We wonder if anyone is "to the manner born" as far as language these days.)

In spoken English, the use of the 'll contractions (I'll, we'll) is evidently the norm on both sides of the Atlantic. You do still hear (properly) shall used (in first person, in question form) to express an offer. This is really a polite way of asking, "Do you want me (us) to...?" For example, "Shall I release you?" meaning "Do you want me to release you?" and "Will I release you?" meaning "Do you think I'm going to release you?"

Although very few writers adhere to them, the basic rules for these words in formal written English are:

Shall is used to express the simple future for the first person only when I and we is the subject: *I shall love you forever.*
Will would be used in the simple future for all other persons: *They will love you forever.*
In American usage, if expressing great determination, these distributions are reversed, as in: *I will have my way* or *They shalldo what we ask.*
Using shall in second and third persons indicates some kind ofpromise about the subject: *This shall be revealed to you in good time.*

As far as the negative contractions, Americans tend to use won't for will not. They rarely use shan't.

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