• Modal Auxiliary Verbs - Will Definition

  As a modal auxiliary verb, will is particularly versatile, having several different functions
  and meanings. It is used to form future tenses, to express willingness or ability, to make requests or offers, to complete conditional sentences, to express likelihood in the immediate present, or to issue commands.

  Creating the future tense

  One of will’s most common uses as a modal verb is to talk about things that are certain, very likely, or planned to happen in the future. In this way, it is used to create an approximation of the future simple tense and the future continuous tense. For example:
• “I will turn 40 tomorrow.” (future simple tense)
• “She will be singing at the concert as well.” (future continuous tense)
  Will can also used to make the future perfect tense and the future perfect continuous tense. These tenses both describe a scenario that began in the past and will either finish in
  or continue into the future. For example:
• “It’s hard to believe that by next month we will have been married for 10 years.” (future perfect tense)
• “By the time I get there, she’ll have been waiting for over an hour.” (future perfect continuous tense)
  If we want to make any of the future tenses negative, we use not between will and the main verb or the next occurring auxiliary verb. We often contract will and not into won’t. For example:
• “I won’t be seeing the movie with you tonight.”
• “At this pace, she won’t finish in first place.”
  If we want to make a question (an interrogative sentence), we invert will with the subject, as in:
• “What will they do with the money?”
• “Won’t you be coming with us?”

  Ability and willingness

  We also sometimes use will to express or inquire about a person or thing’s ability or willingness to do something. It is very similar to the future tense, but is used for more immediate actions. For example:
• “You wash the dishes; I’ll take out the trash.”
• “This darn washing machine won’t turn on.”
• “Won’t Mary come out of her room?”

  Requests and offers

  We often create interrogative sentences using will to make requests or polite offers. They are usually addressed to someone in the second person, as in:
• “Will you walk the dog, Jim?”
• “Will you have a cup of tea, Sam?”
  However, we can use subjects in the first and third person as well. For instance:
• “Will Jonathan bring his truck around here tomorrow?”
• “Will your friend join us for some lunch?”

  Conditional sentences

  In present-tense conditional sentences formed using if, we often use will to express an expected hypothetical outcome. This is known as the first conditional. For example:
• “If I see him, I will tell him the news.”
• “I won’t have to say goodbye if I don’t go to the airport.”

  Likelihood and certainty

  In addition to expressing actions or intentions of the future, we can also use will to express the likelihood or certainty that something is the case in the immediate present. For instance:
• (in response to the phone ringing) “That will be Jane—I’m expecting her call.”
• Speaker A: “Who is that with Jeff?”
• Speaker B: “That’ll be his new husband. They were just married in May.”

  Commands

  Finally, we can use will to issue commands, orders, or maxims. These have an added forcefulness in comparison to imperative sentences, as they express a certainty that the command will be obeyed. For example:
• “You will finish your homework this instant!”
• “This house will not be used as a hotel for your friends, do you understand me?”

  Substituting Modal Verbs

  In many cases, modal auxiliary verbs can be used in place of others to create slightly different meanings. For example, we can use the word shall in place of will in to express polite invitations. Similarly, would can also be substituted for will in requests to make them
  more polite.
  Explore the section on Substituting Modal Verbs to see how and when other modal auxiliary verbs overlap.

  Quiz

• 1.   Which of the following is not a function of will as a modal verb?

  a)   To form the future tense

  b)   To issue a command or maxim

  c)   To express what someone is allowed to do

  d)   To make a request or an offer

  
  

  2.   Which of the following sentences is a conditional sentence?

  a)   “I will be going to Europe in August.”

  b)   “She’ll be moving to Alaska if she can save up enough money.”

  c)   “That will be your father at the door.”

  d)   “You will not put off doing your chores any longer!”

  
  

  3.   Where does the modal verb will appear in an interrogative sentence?

  a)   Before the subject of the sentence

  b)   After the subject of the sentence

  
  

  c)   Before the main verb of the sentence

  d)   After the main verb of the sentence