SAYING WE ARE SURE SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN
We can use will and shall to talk about what will happen.
Exports will continue to rise over the next few months.
I shall be staying in Tokyo for the next three days.
We shan't stay long: we have to be at Mary’s by six.
- We can emphasise our certainty by adding really, (most) certainly / definitely, almost certainly, etc:
You definitely won't like the exhibition.
You'll certainly like their new CD.
- We can express doubt by adding presumably, (most) probably, etc:
You probably won't like their new single.
You'll presumably be wanting some more.
Differences between shall and will
We use shall with I or we. It's old-fashioned with other persons:
I shan't have your X-ray results until next week.
You shall go to her party, I promise.
- When predicting something, or expressing determination, there is little difference in meaning between shall and will:
We shan't / won't arrive much before midnight, I'm afraid. (= predicting)
I shall / will succeed, just you wait and see. (= determination)
- But we use only will, not shall, to ask for predictions
Will I get grade A, do you think?
- We commonly use shall to make polite offers, or to ask advice:
Shall I turn the lights on?
Shall I wear the green or the blue tie?
SAYING IT IS POSSIBLE SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN
We use may, might and could to say that something is possible:
It may / might / could rain tomorrow.
- However, we commonly use will rather than may / might / could in questions:
Will it ruin tomorrow, do you think?
- We can also use would in conditional sentences to predict what would happen if something else happened, or to talk about things that are very unlikely to happen:
He would get very annoyed if you rang him now.
A sunny holiday in Wales? Now, that would be a miracle!
- However, we can use will if other words in the sentence show that something is unlikely:
I doubt if we'll ever again experience a winter quite as cold as this one.
- We can emphasise the degree of probability by adding other words:
She could conceivably come along a bit later. (= it's just possible)
She may / might very well come along a bit later. (= it's quite likely)
- The situation, stress and intonation, and other words we use in the statement can affect the degree of probability more than the modal itself:
I suppose she might come, but I doubt it. (= it's doubtful)
Actually, I think she might very well come. (= high probability)
IN MY OPINION ...
We can use should and ought to to make subjective predictions. In the negative, we avoid oughtn't to, and prefer shouldn't:
They ought to / should win the next round easily.
You shouldn't have trouble with traffic.
- We use should and ought to to predict favorable events:
She should fail her driving test.
The weather should be horrible tomorrow.
She'll probably fail her driving test.
She should /ought to do well in her driving test.
The weather will be horrible tomorrow.
It should be fine tomorrow.