Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxful
Hi, could someone kindly explain to me the differences between "What will you do" and "What would you do" and also "What shall we do" and "What should we do"?
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Basically 'will' indicates something certain, something that cannot be changed, so "What will you do?" is asking someone what action they are going to take. "I will go home", for example, means that I am going home and this action cannot be changed: I've planned to go home, I do not wish to change my plans, no other options are avaliable, so "I will".
'Would' is less certain. It's a hypothetical, meaning it's asking about
possible courses of action as opposed to definate ones. So 'what would you do?' is asking what type of action you may take in a certain situation. So 'What would you do if your house was on fire?', your house
isn't on fire, but the question is asking what action you may take if it was.
"Shall" generally means the same thing as "will" does. The difference between "shall" and "should" also seems to depend on what type of English you use. I would say that 'shall' is asking what potential course of action is best, and 'should' is more asking for advice . . . so 'shall we go to the park?' is asking if it's okay to go, it's not asking for advice, merely asking if the other person wishes to or not. 'Should we go to the park?' is asking for advice, such as 'is it a good idea to go?', it's asking for an explanation rather than 'yes' or 'no'.
Hope I haven't confused you more
