SHALL
What does "SHALL" mean?
A modal verb used to express future action, obligation, or determination, especially with 'I' and 'we'.
Meanings
- Used with the first person to indicate simple future time. We shall arrive before noon. formal
- Used to express command, obligation, or a binding requirement, especially in legal and formal writing. The tenant shall pay rent on the first of each month. formal
- Used in questions to offer or to ask for a decision. Shall we dance?
Word origin
From Old English 'sceal', meaning 'I owe' or 'I must', from a Proto-Germanic root '*skulaną' (to owe, be obligated); the sense shifted from obligation toward simple futurity.
Remember it
SHALL holds a double L like two upright pillars - the firm, formal cousin of the casual 'will'.
A little poem
A small word swears a binding vow:
what shall be done, begins as now.
couplet
Wordplay
- I asked the contract whether it would help me. It said it shall - which is how I knew I'd been obligated, not offered.
What it teaches
The strongest promises hide in the smallest words; 'shall' weighs more than its five letters.
Quick facts
What does SHALL mean?
A modal verb used to express future action, obligation, or determination, especially with 'I' and 'we'.
Is SHALL a valid word?
Yes — SHALL is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SHALL?
SHALL has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does SHALL come from?
From Old English 'sceal', meaning 'I owe' or 'I must', from a Proto-Germanic root '*skulaną' (to owe, be obligated); the sense shifted from obligation toward simple futurity.
What can SHALL teach us?
The strongest promises hide in the smallest words; 'shall' weighs more than its five letters.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.