Will: The Grammar Gameshow Episode 17

Hello and welcome to today’s Grammar Gameshow!

I’m your host, Will!

Will Will be willing to let you win?

All will be revealed.

And of course let’s not forget Leslie,

our all-knowing voice in the sky.

Hello, everyone!

Tonight we’re going to ask you three questions about…

Will!

That little modal verb that does so much!

It's my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to!

Now, let’s meet our contestants!

Hello, all. I’m James.

And contestant number two?

It’s nice to meet you. I’m Frank.

James and Frank?

Oh dear. It’s my birthday and what I say goes!

Well… more than usual anyway!

So now you’re

William, and you can be

Wilfred!

Hey! You can’t do that!

I love being called James!

Quiet, William!

You know, you remind me a lot of my uncle Wilbert.

Why? Did he stand up for himself too?

Oh no.

He mysteriously disappeared!

How about you Wilfred?

Any problems?

Not here!

Good!

Now that we're all ready, let’s have our first question.

Like myself,

the modal verb ‘will’ is a useful thing to have around.

Have a look at these sentences

and tell me what each use of ‘will’ is.

Who wants to go first?

I will!

No, I will!

No, I will!

No...

I will!

Guys, guys, guys!

You’ve got it all wrong!

I Will.

You William.

You Wilfred!

But if you can’t decide, we’ll use the buzzers.

Here we go.

It will rain tomorrow.

That’s ‘will’ as a future auxiliary verb for a prediction.

Correct!

I’ll have orange juice please.

That’s ‘will’ used for a decision

made at the moment of speaking.

Correct!

Thanks for your help. I’ll pay you back on Friday.

That’s ‘will’ used for a promise.

Correct!

Are you hungry? I’ll make you a sandwich.

That’s ‘will’ used as an offer to do something.

Correct!

I’ll kill you for this!

That’s ‘will’ used for a threat.

Correct!

Leslie?

Well done.

‘Will’ is a modal auxiliary verb,

which means it’s always followed by a bare infinitive

and doesn’t change to show person or time.

It has many uses including

future predictions,

future intentions,

instant decisions,

promises, threats,

and offers to help, among others.

Good job both of you.

Have forty-seven

-ty-six points.

On to round two.

True or false:

In the same way as the present simple,

‘will’ can be used to describe

present habits and routines.

True!

It is true!

Can you give me an example?

I’ve heard that

people will often not come home from this show.

And if anyone’s going to disappear,

I would much rather it be James.

William! William!

Of course! Of course!

Leslie?

Well done,

Wilfred!

‘Will’ can be used to describe present habits

and typical behaviour,

just like the present simple.

I’ll kill you for that!

Excellent use of ‘will’ for a threat,

but minus ten points for going to the dark side

on my birthday…

just like Uncle Wilber!

He was a bit of a wet blanket too...

at first.

Wilfred, twelve points for you.

Our final question, then.

In some ways

‘shall’ can be used as a substitute for ‘will’,

but there are a few rules about its use.

Give me three of them.

We only really use ‘shall’ with ‘I’ and ‘we’.

Correct!

That’s one.

You can use ‘shall’ to

ask someone’s opinion when making an offer.

For example:

Shall I open the window?

Well done. One more.

The response to a question with ‘shall we’ is

‘let’s’ or ‘let’s not’.

Leslie?

Good stuff.

‘Shall’ can be used to ask for advice

and make suggestions and offers.

However,

‘shall’ is usually only used with the pronouns ‘I’ or ‘we’.

A common response to a suggestion with ‘shall we’

is ‘let’s’.

‘Shall’ is a little bit formal and a bit old-fashioned,

but it has its place!

Just like you, Leslie!

Trapped for all eternity wherever you are!

Excellent.

Three points to William.

And that brings us to the end of today’s

Grammar Gameshow.

But

before we go…

let’s play a party game!

It's my birthday after all.

How about...

musical podiums?

I’ll play some music and you two switch places.

When the music stops,

we’ll know who the winner is!

Are you ready?

Go!

Oh, I neglected to nominate which podium would lose.

Oh, well!

Release the seagulls.

And the winner is…

me!

Oh, Leslie, what do I win?

It’s a

birthday cake.

Oh, Leslie!

I thought you’d forgotten.

You really are a true friend.

Does that mean you’ll invite me to your party?

But, that means I’d have to

let you out of your box in the sky.

I’ve invited your family though!

Say goodbye, Leslie.

An nyeong hee ge se yo, Leslie

See you next time.