I. MODAL VERB USES
/wɪl/
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Note: 'Will' is a modal verb. It is used with the base form of a verb. In spoken English and informal written English, the form 'won’t' is often used in negative statements.
1.
You use will to indicate that you hope, think, or have evidence that something is going to happen or be the case in the future.
You will find a wide variety of choices available in school cafeterias...
Representatives from across the horse industry will attend the meeting...
70 per cent of airports in the Far East will have to be upgraded...
Will you ever feel at home here?...
The ship will not be ready for a month.
MODAL
2.
You use will in order to make statements about official arrangements in the future.
The show will be open to the public at 2pm; admission will be 50p...
When will I be released, sir?
MODAL
3.
You use will in order to make promises and threats about what is going to happen or be the case in the future.
I’ll call you tonight...
Price quotes on selected product categories will be sent on request...
If she refuses to follow rules about car safety, she won’t be allowed to use the car.
MODAL
4.
You use will to indicate someone’s intention to do something.
I will say no more on these matters, important though they are...
In this section we will describe common myths about cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana...
‘Dinner’s ready.’—‘Thanks, Carrie, but we’ll have a drink first.’...
What will you do next?...
Will you be remaining in the city?
MODAL
5.
You use will in questions in order to make polite invitations or offers.
Will you stay for supper?...
Will you join me for a drink?...
Won’t you sit down?
MODAL [ politeness ]
6.
You use will in questions in order to ask or tell someone to do something.
Will you drive me home?...
Wipe the jam off my mouth, will you?
= would
MODAL
7.
You can use will in statements to give an order to someone. ( FORMAL )
You will now maintain radio silence...
You will not discuss this matter with anyone.
MODAL
8.
You use will to say that someone is willing to do something. You use will not or won’t to indicate that someone refuses to do something.
All right, I’ll forgive you...
He has insisted that his organisation will not negotiate with the government.
MODAL
see also willing
9.
You use will to say that a person or thing is able to do something in the future.
How the country will defend itself in the future has become increasingly important...
How will I recognize you?
MODAL
10.
You use will to indicate that an action usually happens in the particular way mentioned.
The thicker the material, the less susceptible the garment will be to wet conditions...
There’s no snake known that will habitually attack human beings unless threatened with its life...
MODAL
11.
You use will in the main clause of some ‘if’ and ‘unless’ sentences to indicate something that you consider to be fairly likely to happen.
If you overcook the pancakes they will be difficult to roll...
MODAL
12.
You use will to say that someone insists on behaving or doing something in a particular way and you cannot change them. You emphasize will when you use it in this way.
He will leave his socks lying all over the place and it drives me mad.
MODAL
13.
You use will have with a past participle when you are saying that you are fairly certain that something will be true by a particular time in the future.
As many as ten-million children will have been infected with the virus by the end of the decade...
MODAL
14.
You use will have with a past participle to indicate that you are fairly sure that something is the case.
The holiday will have done him the world of good.
MODAL
II. WANTING SOMETHING TO HAPPEN
/wɪl/
( wills, willing, willed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
Will is the determination to do something.
He was said to have lost his will to live.
...the inevitable battle of wills as your child realises that he can’t do or have everything he wants...
N-VAR : oft N to-inf
see also free will
2.
If something is the will of a person or group of people with authority, they want it to happen.
Democracy responds and adjusts to the will of the people...
N-SING : with poss
3.
If you will something to happen, you try to make it happen by using mental effort rather than physical effort.
I looked at the telephone, willing it to ring...
VERB : V n to-inf
4.
A will is a document in which you declare what you want to happen to your money and property when you die.
Attached to his will was a letter he had written to his wife just days before his death.
N-COUNT
5.
If something is done against your will , it is done even though you do not want it to be done.
No doubt he was forced to leave his family against his will.
PHRASE : PHR after v
6.
If you can do something at will , you can do it when you want and as much as you want.
...scientists who can adjust their experiments at will.
PHRASE : PHR after v