[austechwriter] Re: usage question: will vs would, shall vs should

  • From: tien.sieh@xxxxxxxxxx
  • To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 12:07:50 +1100




Hmm,

I've read lots of Request for Tender documents and associated draft
contracts that make heavy use of the word "shall".

eg: "The Contractor shall ..."

It seems that government (state and federal) hasnt moved with the times.

I suspect I'll think of the Fairy Godmother from now on when reading RFTs
from gov agencies.

tien

stuart lecky wrote on 15/07/2003 11:01:21 AM:

>
> >(I've never known, really, when to use "shall")
>
> Never.  It's archaic.  It's what the Fairy Godmother said to Cinders
("You
> shall go to the ball").  It's what cockney sparrers say in dodgy black
and
> white 1940s movies ("I shall do that, guv").  It has no part in modern
> speech and particularly not technical writing.  But it's fine if you're
> Hans Christian Andersen or Stanley Holloway.
>

**************************************************
To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to 
austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to 
austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject field.

To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 
"unsubscribe" in the Subject field.

To search the austechwriter archives, go to 
www.freelist.org/archives/austechwriter

To contact the list administrator, send a message to 
austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
**************************************************

Other related posts:

  1. Home
  2. austechwriter
  3. Archive
  4. 07-2003