Learn English – the difference among “what do/shall/will we do (now)?” in a specific situation

meaning-in-contextword-difference

In this situation, is there any difference between these three expressions?

The situation is as follows.

You and your friend are hanging out.
You guys went to a cafe and enjoyed talking there for some time.
As you and your friend are getting out of the cafe, you are not sure what to do next.
You can suggest going to a movie theater or just depart and go home or whatever.
So you are saying one of the three expressions below.

  1. What do we do (now)?
  2. What shall we do (now)?
  3. What will we do (now)?

Thank you as always.

Best Answer

"Shall" and "will" mean basically the same thing -- they are referring to the future. The traditional grammar rule is that "shall" is only used with the first person ("I" or "we"), and "will" is used in all other cases -- but nobody actually follows this "rule" with any consistency. Effectively, "shall" and "will" are interchangeable, except "shall" sounds a little more formal.

(Here's a Wikipedia page about "shall" vs. "will".)

"What do we do now" is in the present tense, and is the most correct of the three options, since the speaker is talking about actions in the present. "Will" and "shall" are future tense -- so "will" is correct if you are asking, "What will we do after the movie?"

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