(El año que viene la Semana Santa caerá en el mes de marzo.)
We use different verb forms to refer to future time. We use will for events that are not affected by decisions, e.g.:
| Next year Easter will fall in March. (El año que viene la Semana Santa caerá en el mes de marzo.) |
| When will Tom be 21? (¿Cuando cumple Tom 21 años?) |
We also use will for personal events when (we assume) the subject wants the thing to happen, e.g.:
| Will your cousins come to the party? (¿Tus primos vendrán a la fiesta?) |
| Jacky says she'll lend you her guitar if you need one. (Jacky dice que os dejará la guitarra si necesitáis una.) |
You will sometimes find the future expressed with I shall and we shall, e.g.:
| I shall speak to the lawyer tomorrow. (Hablaré con el abogado mañana.) |
| We shall all be in trouble if the crisis continues. (Todos tendremos problemas si la crisis continúa.) |
However, it is possible to express the same meaning with will (or 'll), e.g.:
| I'll speak to the lawyer tomorrow. (Hablaré con el abogado mañana.) |
| We will all be in trouble if the crisis continues. (Todos tendremos problemas si la crisis continúa.) |
However, we use shall I and shall we in questions to ask for the other person to decide, e.g.:
| Shall I open the door for you? (¿Le abro la puerta?) |
| What time shall we pick you up on Saturday? (¿A qué hora os recogeremos el sábado?) |
In these cases shall cannot be replaced by will.
Will can also be used to "make a guess" about something in present time, e.g.:
| A: There's someone at the door. (Hay alguien en la puerta.) B: It'll be the plumber. I asked him to come this morning. (Debe de ser el fontanero. Le pedí que viniera esta mañana.) |
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See also irritating habits.
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