#23 - Shall

"Shall" is a rather tricky word since it lacks a concrete definition.  It's what you would call an auxiliary verb--a verb that doesn't necessarily mean anything by itself, but which serves a purely grammatical function.  Take this simple example:

Does he go?  (Est-ce qu'il va ?)
Did he go?  (Est-ce qu'il est allé ?)

Would he go?  (Irait-il ?)
Will he go?  (Ira-t-il ?)
Shall I go? (Préférez-vous que je m'en aille ?)

In each sentence, the first word is an auxiliary verb.  The main action is "to go" but the auxiliary verb clarifies what type of going: real or hypothetical, past or future, a question or a statement, etc.   For most of these there are plenty of equivalents in French, such as "Est-ce que" for asking a question, or special verb conjugations for the future ("Will he...?") and the conditional ("Would he...?").  "Shall" is the odd one out.  Even in English, the various intentions behind this word are so wide-ranging as to be almost paradoxical.

For example:

1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.  (Le Congrès ne fera aucune loi relative à l'établissement d'une religion, ou à l'interdiction de son libre exercice)
2. We shall overcome. (Nous vaincrons)
3. Shall I open the window?  (Voulez-vous que j'ouvre la fenêtre ?)
4. When shall we meet?  (Quand (voulez-vous que) nous nous retrouver(i)ons ?)
5. Shall we meet at 8pm?  (Retrouverons-nous à 20h ? / Voulez-vous qu'on se retrouve à 20h ?)

You can see, the meaning of "shall" slides all the way from a formal command (#1), to a strong declaration of intent (#2), to offering to do something (#3), to a polite question about the future (#4), to making a suggestion while asking for other person's preference (#5).  The only thing they have in common is that they're all future tense. 

Strange, isn't it, that a word can be a strict command or a polite, considerate question?  For English speakers, the difference is so clear from the context that we don't even think about this contradiction.

However, "shall" as a simple future tense is rather archaic now, having been mostly replaced by "will."   In modern, everyday speech, it would be more natural say, "Congress will make no law" or "We will overcome."  The only difference is that "shall" sounds more formal.

However, in #3, "Shall I open the window?" it shifts into a very polite, simple way of offering to do something.  This isn't exactly untranslatable, but the French equivalent, "Voulez-vous que j'ouvre la fenêtre ?" is rather long and awkward.  

In #4, things start to diverge a little more.  "When shall we meet?" is a tad more polite and less definitive than "When will we meet?"  Using "shall" implies that you're politely asking for the other person's preference. 

And last, but not least, #5--this is where the word "shall" becomes truly untranslatable.  "Shall we meet at 8pm?" is quite different from "Will we meet at 8pm?"  In this case, "shall" makes it clear that you're making a decision together, right now, whereas "Will we meet at 8pm?" indicates that a decision has already been made and you're just asking the other person for information.

However, another way to phrase #5 would be, "Shall we say...8pm?" ("Disons...20h ?").  In that case, the French imperative conjugation makes for a perfectly accurate translation.

P.S. One last note for the non-native English speakers--in modern English, since "shall" is mostly used for offering to do something or making plans with someone, we use it almost exclusively with "I" or "we."  This is especially true when it's part of a question.  You can say, "Shall I go?/Shall we go?" (Voulez-vous que je parte ?/Allons-y ?) but you cannot say, "Shall you/she/they go?"--that would sound strange, and the meaning would not be clear.

In fact, "Shall I..." can even be a question that you ask yourself, in a musing sort of way.  The most famous example is, of course, the 18th Sonnet by Shakespeare:

And it's apparently also a popular title for children's books...and lifestyle blogs?