Quote:
Originally Posted by DCEite Sam sir, can you please elaborate the usage and difference between:
Will and Shall
Will and Would
Can and Could
Could and Would
Must and Ought |
Of course! Some nice points. And a good dig (calling me Sir, lol)
Shall and Will: The line between these two has become faded. In modern English, they are almost freely swappable, adding to the confusion.
Let me tell you how I use it.
I use shall to make a strong emphasis.
Example:
I shall succeed, no matter what.
Would it be wrong to say,
I will succeed? Nope. But the first sentence has more
dum, don't you think?
Shall is used when asking a question:
"Shall i eat this? Shall we leave now?"
But in the UK, it is common to replace this with a
Will.
In colloquial English(brit.), a mother can ask her son "
You look unwell, will I make you some soup?" It's not wrong, but not generally used, especially here.
Mostly, you would use shall with I and We. Unless you're using it for strong emphasis "
He shall not defeat me."
Shall not can be shortened to shan't.
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Will and Would:
In basic essence, would is the past tense of will. But they are
not swappable at all.
Example: "
The car would be gone for a week" This indicates a possibility, a conditional clause.
The car will be gone indicates a future confirmation.
But also used in multiple ways:
Like to express a desire or advice:
I would love to drive the Phantom. I wouldn't do that, if I were you.
Or even conditional:
If I was taller, I would have had many girlfriends.
Will is simply used for the future tense and other uses.
Future:
He will be 29 tomorrow.
Consistent Behaviour:
No matter what you tell him, he will drive fast.
As of now I cannot think of a single situation where you can swap these two words.
Will not can be shortened to won't and would not to wouldn't.
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Can and Could: Again
not swappable.
A sentence like
I can! would signify a confident yes.
But a sentence like
I could would denote a conditional, or a half sentence. Maybe I can, maybe not. Or I can, if I got something in return etc.
Also, we make a common mistake
Can I borrow your shirt?WRONG! This is not polite and not a nice way of asking.
COULD I borrow your shirt is polite and nice.
Or in a store/restaurant:
Can you tell me how much this costs? Can you serve us now? Not nice.
Replace with could and the result is polite and well spoken.
Could you tell me/ could you guide me/ could you serve us now These are nice and correct.
An exception: Unlike shall not and will not, cannot is ONE word. This can be shortened to can't.
Could not can be shortened to couldn't.
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Could and Would: Not related at all. In fact quite apart in meaning.
A comon way of combining the two
He would, if he could.
Meaning: He would have done it, if he was capable of doing it.
Could is related to can, the way would is related to will.
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Must and Ought:
Must, ofcourse is a word so many superb uses. We know most of them.
Insistence
No beta you must eat.
Annoyed question
Must you stare at that woman's chest all the time?
Or rules/law.
You must be 18 to watch this movie.
Must not can be shortened to
mustn't. A lovely word.
So where does OUGHT (pronounced AUT) fit in? Well, primarily, I find ought to be an old fashioned word, but thouroughly enjoyable.
If you can use this word successfully, you will come across to all reading/listening to you, as a person with a good command over English.
So let's discuss ought. Ought is always used with an unconjugated verb. means we use the whole verb, to do, to have, to go.
Therefore a rule of thumb
Ought is never used without to (something).
The uses:
To show an obvious or expected action
You really ought to know this. He's finished his driving school, he ought to be able to drive! We ought to eat now.
When using the negative, you say
ought not to (something). Like
I ought not to go. You cannot shorten and join these.
While it sounds propah and sometimes archaic, it's a very powerful and educated expression.