Re: Will

Muke Tever wrote:
> it's part of
> how we can have constructions like 'I got finished' replace or live with 'I
> have finished'.
I don't see that happening.  Got + past participle is a passive, "He got
killed" is a very different meaning from "he has killed"

> What's the difference between 'will' and 'shall'?
In normal usage, nada.  Historically, "will" comes from OE _wilan_
(sp?), "to want", "shall" from _sculon_, "must".  Prescriptivistically,
"will" is used for emphatic 1st person, normal 2nd and 3rd person,
"shall" for normal first person, emphatic 2nd and 3rd person (or is it
the other way around?).  The only survival that I can think of of the
original "want/must" difference is in forms like "thou shalt not ..."

--
"If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men
believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of
the city of God!" - Ralph Waldo Emerson
ICQ: 18656696
AIM Screen-Name: NikTailor