determination, maybe as an attempt to soften the order. It's
interesting that it's also passive. What I see in many restaurant
without appearing to be dictatorial.
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
John
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
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
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