will

I [[t]wɪl[/t]] MODAL VERB USES

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(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) MODAL 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.

The Prime Minister is now 64 years old and in all probability this will be the last election that he is likely to contest...

I'm sure we will find a wide variety of choices available in school cafeterias...

It is hoped that representatives from across the horse industry will attend the meeting...

It has been estimated that 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.

2) MODAL 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?

3) MODAL 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.

4) MODAL 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.'...

He will be devoting more time to writing, broadcasting and lecturing...

What will you do next?...

Where will you stay when you get to San Francisco?...

Will you be remaining in the city?

5) MODAL (politeness) 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?

6) MODAL You use will in questions in order to ask or tell someone to do something.

Will you drive me home?...

Will you listen again, Andrew?...

Wipe the jam off my mouth, will you?

Syn:

would

7) MODAL You can use will in statements to give an order to someone. [FORMAL]

You will do as I request, if you please...

You will now maintain radio silence...

You will not make jokes about him. He has been very good to me...

You will not discuss this matter with anyone.

8) MODAL 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.

→ See also willing

All right, I'll forgive you...

I'll answer the phone...

If you won't let me pay for a taxi, then at least allow me to lend you something...

He has insisted that his organisation will not negotiate with the government.

9) MODAL 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?

10) MODAL 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...

Art thieves will often hide an important work for years after it has been stolen.

11) MODAL 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...

If a nuclear war breaks out, every living thing will be wiped off the face of the Earth...

He won't stop drinking unless he's told by a doctor that it's killing him.

12) MODAL 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.

13) MODAL 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...

He will have left by January the fifteenth.

14) MODAL You use will have with a past participle to indicate that you are fairly sure that something is the case.

If someone has been in captivity for a long time, he will have changed as a result of his experience...

The holiday will have done him the world of good.

II [[t]wɪ̱l[/t]] WANTING SOMETHING TO HAPPEN

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wills, willing, willed

1) N-VAR: oft N to-inf Will is the determination to do something.

→ See also free will

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...

He who was usually so full of questions lacked the will to confront her with them.

2) N-SING: with poss If something is the will of a person or group of people with authority, they want it to happen.

He has submitted himself to the will of God...

Democracy responds and adjusts to the will of the people...

The parliament didn't deserve to represent the nation's will.

3) VERB If you will something to happen, you try to make it happen by using mental effort rather than physical effort.

[V n to-inf] I looked at the telephone, willing it to ring...

[V n to-inf] He was watching her fixedly, willing her to look at him.

4) N-COUNT 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.

5) VERB If you will something to someone, you say in your will that they should have it when you die.

[V n to n] The large sum of money that came to him when she died was a shock, and he had not spent a penny of it on himself. He had, however, willed it to Frank.

6) PHRASE: PHR after v 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.

7) PHRASE: PHR after v 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.

8) PHRASE: PHR after v If you do something with a will, you do it with a lot of enthusiasm and energy.

Set to work with a will and be pleased with the amount you get done...

It was an easy opening circuit, but the riders attacked it with a will.

Syn:

eagerly