Re: Will
| From: | Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, April 18, 2000, 1:33 |
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John Cowan wrote:
> Historically, "will" represented simple futurity, whereas "shall" had
> overtones of intention, command, suggestion, or what not, *except* in
> the 1st person where the pattern was reversed.
I've read that there's a good deal of controversy over whether the
distinction was *ever* that cut-and-dry, or whether that distinction was
imposed on "will/shall" by prescriptivists.
--
"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
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