Here is Random House's basic summary of "shall" usage: The traditional rule of usage guides dates from the 17th century and says that to denote future time shall is used in the first person ( I shall leave. We shall go ) and will in all other persons ( You will be there, won't you? He will drive us to the airport. They will not be at the meeting ). The rule continues that to express determination, will is used in the first person ( We will win the battle ) and shall in the other two persons ( You shall not bully us. They shall not pass ). Whether this rule was ever widely observed is doubtful. Today, will is used overwhelmingly in all three persons and in all types of speech and writing both for the simple future and to express determination. Shall has some use in all persons, chiefly in formal writing or speaking, to express determination: I shall return. We shall overcome. Shall also occurs in the language of laws and directives: All visitors shall observe posted regulations. Most educated native users of American English do not follow the textbook rule in making a choice between shall and will. shall. (n.d.). *Dictionary.com Unabridged*. Retrieved June 04, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/shall John On Sat, Jun 4, 2011 at 10:09 PM, Kathleen Ward <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > I've always heard it called the deonatic use ofnthe modal -- something > that imposes an obligation on the hearer of an utterance. It is a > characteristic of modals in English that they have both deonatic and > epistemically (degree of certainty) uses. > > Kathleen M. Ware. > > University of California, Davis > > > On Saturday, June 4, 2011, Jane Saral <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Friends have just returned from their annual pilgrimage to Ashland, > Oregon, and on one flight they saw a sign in the flight attendants' area > that said, "Hands shall be washed before serving food or drink." > > > > > > > > What is this use of "shall" called? > > > > Jane Saral > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web > interface at: > > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > > and select "Join or leave the list" > > > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > > > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/