Modal verb shall | Uses, examples and exercises

What is the verb shall?

The verb shall is a modal verb usually used affirmatively to ask for opinion about something, among other things. In formal language, shall can also be considered an auxiliary verb, even though it is slightly archaic. It is generally used with the personal pronouns I (I) and we (we) and its use is more frequent in the UK than in other English-speaking countries.

Being a modal verb, it has a series of common characteristics with these, among which the following stand out:

It has no infinitive form (never use to shall)
It does not have a gerund (never use shalling)
It does not have a participle (never use shalled)

In short, shall, although somewhat outdated, can still be used in formal documents or to offer help, express opinions and make suggestions.

When to use shall?

1. Asking someone else’s opinion

You should know that you can only ask a question with shall in the first person, that is, Shall I? and Shall we?

Sentences:

I am very tired so shall I sleep a little bit? (Estoy muy cansado, ¿duermo un poco?)
She lost the train so, shall we wait for her? (Ha perdido el tren, ¿la esperamos?)

2. Offering your help

The same as in the previous case applies here. You should always use the first person.

Sentences:

You look tired. Shall I get you my pillow to rest on the sofa? (Pareces cansado. ¿Te traigo mi almohada para que descanses en el sofá?)
Are you lost? Shall we help you? (¿Estás perdido? ¿Quieres que te ayudemos?)

3. Making suggestions

Usually, the suggestion is made to someone. Therefore, it is generally formulated with shall we.

Sentences:

Shall we start the meeting? We have a lot of work. (¿Empezamos la reunión? Tenemos mucho trabajo.)
He won the lottery, shall we toast? (Le tocó la lotería, ¿brindamos?)

4. Formal documents

Shall sounds a bit old-fashioned and formal in some situations, except in legal documents and notes. In these types of items, it can be used without problems.

Sentence:

Upon receipt of this notification, the claimant shall provide the requested documentation within 10 days. (Una vez recibida esta notificación, el demandante deberá aportar la documentación solicitada en un plazo de 10 días.)

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Conjugation and structure of the verb shall

As we have mentioned, shall is usually conjugated with the first person singular and plural: I and We.

It can be contracted and does not present variations in the conjugation of the other tenses.

Affirmative conjugation

Subject + shall + verb in infinitive (without to+)

The verb is conjugated the same for all persons.

Without contraction	With contraction
I shall dance	I’ll dance

Negative conjugation

Subject + shall + not + verb in infinitive (without to +)

The verb is conjugated the same for all persons.

Without contraction	With contraction
I shall not dance	I shan’t dance

Interrogative conjugation

Affirmative

Shall + subject + verb in infinitive (without to +)

Negative

Shall + subject + not + v. in infinitive (without to +)

Shan’t + subject + v. in infinitive (without to +)

The verb is conjugated the same for all persons.

Affirmative

Negative

Shall I dance…?

Shall I not dance…?

Shan’t I dance…?

Differences between shall and will

Will has become the substitute for shall to indicate future tense in colloquial and everyday language, but shall has not disappeared. As we have mentioned, it is used very formally in certain documents or to ask opinion, offer help and make suggestions. It should only be used with the persons I or we and its negative contraction is shan’t. Therefore, the fundamental difference is that will is much more common and shall should be used only on special occasions.

Also, if you usually use American-rooted English, it is better not to use shall since its use has been lost. On the contrary, if you use British English, shall is much more common, always in the aforementioned cases.