+118.+ We have learned how to express present time and past time, by
changes in the form of the verb. But we very often desire to make a
statement in which we do not express either present or past time, thus
we may say:
We shall enjoy our rights some day.
He will join us in the struggle.
We do not mean to say that we do enjoy our rights now, in the present,
or that we did in the past, but that we _shall_ enjoy our rights some
time in the future. In the second sentence, _will join_ expresses the
same idea of future time. To indicate future time, we do not make a
change in the verb form, but we use _shall_ and _will_ with the simple
form of the verb.
+119.+ +We denote future time by use of a verb phrase made by placing
_shall_ or _will_ before the simple form of the verb.+
+120.+ The rule of some grammarians is to use _shall_ always in the
first person, the person speaking, to denote future time, and _will_
with the second person, the person spoken to, and with the third person,
the person spoken of, to denote future time. But common usage does not
always follow the rules of the grammarians, and, in the course of time,
affects and changes these rules. So our common usage of today uses
_will_ in the first person to express future time, as well as _shall_.
This rule of grammarians marks a nicety of speech and conveys a
distinction of meaning which it really seems worth while to retain. The
idea of the grammarians is that when we use _will_ with the first person
and _shall_ with the second or third person, we express a _promise_ or
_determination_. Thus if I say, _I shall go_, I simply mean that my
going will be in the future. But if I say, _I will go_, I either mean
that I am promising to go or that I am expressing my determination to
go. So also if we use _shall_ in the second and third persons. If we
say, _You will go_ or _He will go_, we are simply stating that the going
will be in the future, but if we say, _You shall go_, or _He shall go_,
we mean that we promise or are determined that you or he shall go.
To be technically correct this distinction should be observed. _Shall_
in the first person, and _will_ in the second and third express simple
futurity. _Will_ in the first person and _shall_ in the second and third
express promise or determination. But in every day conversation this
distinction is not observed, and many of our best writers do not follow
this rule.