“Will”, “shall” and “should”

Knowledge of the basics of English grammar will help you to communicate clearly and confidently. Here, we review the use of “will”, “shall” and “should” in the context of entertaining.

1. Spontaneous decisions

The “will”-future is formed by combining “will” and an infinitive. We often use this form when we make a spontaneous decision. This is a decision that we make at the time of speaking. As many decisions around food and drink are spontaneous, we often use the future simple in the context of entertaining:

Everything sounds lovely. I’ll order the fish.

I’m not very hungry. I’ll have a small salad.

I’m sorry, I won’t have the steak after all. I’ll have the lamb with country potatoes, please.

We often use the “will”-future after “I think” or “I don’t think”: I think I’ll have wine.

I don’t think I’ll like that. 2. Spontaneous offers

We use the “will”-future when we make a spontaneous offer:

I’ll call a taxi for you.

I’ll pay this time!

3. Instant reactions

We also use the “will”-future to show an instant reaction:

You haven’t eaten all day! We’ll order something for you right now. What would you like?

4. Predictions

The same structure is used to make predictions:

It’ll be lovely.

The food won’t be expensive.

5. Promises

When you promise to do something, you can also use the structure “will” + infinitive:

I’ll be in touch.

I’ll book the table at the restaurant this afternoon.

6. Polite questions

The “will”-future is also used to ask questions:

Will you join us for lunch?

Will you stay for lunch?

If you want to be even more polite when you ask a question about someone’s needs or plans, use the structure “will” + “be” + the “-ing” form of the verb, which is known as the future continuous:

Will you be needing anything else?

Will you be wanting to extend your reservation?

7. Polite instructions

Apart from the imperative form, we use “must” or “have to” to instruct someone to do something. You can make instructions more polite by using “will have to”. This is a good way to make your instructions sound less direct:

You’ll have to book early to get a good table.

8. Polite advice

We use “will need to” to talk about future obligations. The same structure is used to give advice for the future. By using “will need to”, you make your advice seem less direct.

You’ll need to ask her if she has any allergies.

You’ll need to get approval for the budget.

9. Polite suggestions

You can make a suggestion by asking a question with “shall” and a first-person subject (“I” or “we”), or with “should”:

Shall I order us a bottle of wine?

Shall we book a table for eight o’clock?

Should we have a dessert?