"shall" and "will" for 18th century BrEn readers: interchangeable?

nekocat

先輩

3 Apr 2007

265

11

• 27 Jun 2007

• #1

In Wuthering Heights rewritten for children I met with the following sentences, in which "shall" and "will" are used in a manner I can't understand if they are interchangeable. Are they interchangeable?

(1) If you won't lend me a guide, I will have to stay here.
(2) I feel I shall not rest if I go to bed.

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JimmySeal

Tubthumper

5 Mar 2006

1,516

78

• 27 Jun 2007

• #2

Both simply express the future tense. Shall is a hoity-toity old-fashioned way of forming the future tense, and there is little difference between "will" and "shall" here.

 

nekocat

先輩

3 Apr 2007

265

11

• 27 Jun 2007

• Thread starter
• #3

Thanks and おおきに！
Are you sure (sorry, I really want to know) that for the author (in the 18th century) it wouldn't have made difference whether she would write "I will have to" or "I shall have to"?

 

Sarapva

Midnight and Snowflake

25 Feb 2007

1,072

48

• 28 Jun 2007

• #4

"Shall" seems to be used more by the British than Americans. "Shall" and "will" could be interchanged today in those two sentences, but I don't know if they could be when the author wrote it. One example where "shall" can't be interchanged with "will" is in this sentence: "Shall we have tea or coffee?"

 

nekocat

先輩

3 Apr 2007

265

11

• 28 Jun 2007

• Thread starter
• #5

ありがとう、Jimmy さんに Sarapva さん！
もう少し待ってみます。