I have decided to write this post based on the fact that most students believe that “will’' only expresses future time in English. Actually, some teachers tend to concentrate on the difference between 'will' and 'going to', leaving other uses of this modal verb aside. As a result, most learners of English end up oversimplifying the meaning of ‘will' in English.
The diagram above shows several situations with the word 'will'. Firstly, I have tried to show that ‘will’ can be both a verb and a noun. As a verb, it is used to predict something based on our beliefs. Besides that, we use ‘will' to talk about future actions decided at the time of speaking. Note that, when we make predictions about the future that are based on general beliefs, it is common to use ‘will’ in conditional clauses.
As 'will' is a modal verb, it can also be used to express 'polite requests', 'promises', 'offers' and so on. Interestingly, ‘will’ is also used to describe someone’s characteristic behavior. In the latter case, at least, it is unquestionable that ‘will’ has no relationship with the future. Do you agree?
Finally, ‘will' is also a noun, which means 'testament' ( i.e a legal document stating who you want your property/money to belong to after your death). Apart from that, ‘will' is a synonym for ‘wish' or ‘determination’.
I do hope you have enjoyed this post. Please, feel free to make your comments.
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