Learn English – the difference between shall and may

grammar

Me and my brother were talking about a girl

So he said I shall be perfect for her.

Does shall mean the same as may?

Best Answer

The modal verb "shall" does not mean "may", but it is a synonym for "will" and it is virtually interchangeable with "will"; however, there are slight differences in some cases and there is an old rule that still exists, particularly in England. The old rule says that the simple future looks like this:

Simple Future: I shall, you will, he will, we shall, you will, they will

Emphatic Future: I will, you shall, he shall, we will, you shall, they shall

H.W. Fowler once wrote a treatise on the differences between "shall" and "will". An example of his was that if a man yelled,

"I shall drown; no one will save me!"

he would be crying for help; in this situation, the man would be drowning and in need of being saved, whereas if a man yelled,

"I will drown; no one shall save me!"

then nobody would save the man because the man intends to die. In essence, a man who shouts this is committing suicide. That's what the difference is "technically". If your brother said about himself, "I shall be perfect for her," he was basically saying the equivalent of "I will be perfect for her." It was nothing more than his simple future prediction and he was using "I shall", which is technically more correct than "I will" in this situation, since it is a mere prediction and that's what the rules of English grammar technically call for, although it's a rule that is seldom followed. If he said to you, "You shall be perfect for her," he was basically saying, "You will be perfect for her"; however, he is being assertive about it. In essence, he was almost guaranteeing that you will be the perfect person for her.

The modal "shall" corresponds with "should" just as "will" corresponds with "would". In fact, "should" is the past tense, imperfect, and past subjunctive form of "shall" whereas "would" is the past tense, imperfect, and past subjunctive form of "will", so, essentially, you say "shall" all of the time when you say "should"; this is just its past tense, imperfect, or past subjunctive form depending upon the context wherein it may be used.

Also, grammatically-speaking, "Me and my brother were talking about a girl" is incorrect; it should say,

"My brother and I were talking about a girl."

I hope that might have helped you out. Take care and good luck.