The DICT Development Group

  Shall \Shall\, v. i. & auxiliary. [imp. Should.] [OE. shal,
     schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged,
     imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres.
     skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen, pres. zal, imp. zoude, zou,
     OHG. solan, scolan, pres. scal, sol. imp. scolta, solta, G.
     sollen, pres. soll, imp. sollte, Icel. skulu, pres. skal,
     imp. skyldi, SW. skola, pres. skall, imp. skulle, Dan.
     skulle, pres. skal, imp. skulde, Goth. skulan, pres. skal,
     imp. skulda, and to AS. scyld guilt, G. schuld guilt, fault,
     debt, and perhaps to L. scelus crime.]
  
     Note: [Shall is defective, having no infinitive, imperative,
           or participle.]
     1. To owe; to be under obligation for. [Obs.] ``By the faith
        I shall to God'' --Court of Love.
  
     2. To be obliged; must. [Obs.] ``Me athinketh [I am sorry]
        that I shall rehearse it her.'' --Chaucer.
  
     3. As an auxiliary, shall indicates a duty or necessity whose
        obligation is derived from the person speaking; as, you
        shall go; he shall go; that is, I order or promise your
        going. It thus ordinarily expresses, in the second and
        third persons, a command, a threat, or a promise. If the
        auxillary be emphasized, the command is made more
        imperative, the promise or that more positive and sure. It
        is also employed in the language of prophecy; as, ``the
        day shall come when . . ., '' since a promise or threat
        and an authoritative prophecy nearly coincide in
        significance. In shall with the first person, the
        necessity of the action is sometimes implied as residing
        elsewhere than in the speaker; as, I shall suffer; we
        shall see; and there is always a less distinct and
        positive assertion of his volition than is indicated by
        will. ``I shall go'' implies nearly a simple futurity;
        more exactly, a foretelling or an expectation of my going,
        in which, naturally enough, a certain degree of plan or
        intention may be included; emphasize the shall, and the
        event is described as certain to occur, and the expression
        approximates in meaning to our emphatic ``I will go.'' In
        a question, the relation of speaker and source of
        obligation is of course transferred to the person
        addressed; as, ``Shall you go?'' (answer, ``I shall go'');
        ``Shall he go?'' i. e., ``Do you require or promise his
        going?'' (answer, ``He shall go''.) The same relation is
        transferred to either second or third person in such
        phrases as ``You say, or think, you shall go;'' ``He says,
        or thinks, he shall go.'' After a conditional conjunction
        (as if, whether) shall is used in all persons to express
        futurity simply; as, if I, you, or he shall say they are
        right. Should is everywhere used in the same connection
        and the same senses as shall, as its imperfect. It also
        expresses duty or moral obligation; as, he should do it
        whether he will or not. In the early English, and hence in
        our English Bible, shall is the auxiliary mainly used, in
        all the persons, to express simple futurity. (Cf. Will,
        v. t.) Shall may be used elliptically; thus, with an
        adverb or other word expressive of motion go may be
        omitted. ``He to England shall along with you.'' --Shak.
  
     Note: Shall and will are often confounded by inaccurate
           speakers and writers. Say: I shall be glad to see you.
           Shall I do this? Shall I help you? (not Will I do
           this?) See Will.