Shall

Shall
 

SHALL
How can this word be translated in spanish? :banghead:

Good question, I'd like to know the answer, too.

It's the same as will in Spanish. i.e. I shall/will do it = Lo haré.

The difference is the use made in English between Shall and Will whether it's a statement of fact or whether it's a command or strong assertion.
I will be in London next week is a statement of fact.
I shall be in London next week is a strong assertion.
The verb in Spanish would be translated in the same way in both cases "Estaré en Londres la próxima semana". To make the strong assertion Spanish has to add something like: "Claro que estaré en Londres la próxima semana.

When you're offering to do something in English you use Shall, i.e. Shall I help you with that? = ¿Le ayudo con eso? Shall I call a taxi? = ¿Llamo a un taxi?

I don't know if I've completely covered the subject but that's what I can think of at the moment.:)

In addition, you will not hear many Americans using shall. Everyone will understand you, but it is much more commonly used in Britain.

Thanks Ambrina and Poli.
So, there´s no one word translation for `shall´?
What about should? I gather this translates to deber... or is there any other explanation for it.

Correcto. However, in Spanish I always translate it as "deber"

"Estaré en Londres la próxima semana"

and

"Deberé estar en Londres la próxima semana"


I shall be back. (guess who?) :-)

you can use ir a-(voy a listarme para el viaje-- maybe?)

Listarme?:confused:

@Poli: maybe you mean "alistarme" (get ready) ?


@Jane: there are no exact word-translations for those verbs, because they imply a verbal tense, so it's rather a whole conjugation that gives the idea in Spanish.

I was interested in this word because once I had to translate into Spanish some Shakespeare's verses from a sonnet which began with "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" (I still remember...). I wanted to give it some look of duty, but my teacher wanted this sentence in future tense.

Poetry is often open to interpretation. I personally would use "can I compare you.." or "may I"to translate it.
You know that Shakespeare's English is about 500 years old, but even in contemporary English "shall" may be used to mean a more forceful "may"

I learnt before that the word Shall meaning Deberia.