Expressing future time

Using will page 6 of 7

Using will to give commands

Will is sometimes used to give commands. This use is quite rare apart from institutions such as the army:

Now this is what we'll do. No more games. Now you will listen and you will obey. (Bank of English)

Since the core meaning of will is strong likelihood bordering on certainty, the use of will (rather than must or have to, for example) allows no possibility for disobedience. Since very few institutions can exercise this degree of control, the use of will to give commands has become associated largely with authority figures who are either fictional or comical:

You will tell him that you want to see the waste-paper of yesterday. You will say that an important telegram has miscarried and that you are looking for it. You understand? (from The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle)

In the following example, will in the first command is followed by must in the second:

There's no sort of "You will buy MacDonald Douglas equipment" or "You must move off your MacDonald Douglas equipment". (Bank of English) note.gif (933 bytes)

For further information about this, see 04conten.gif (549 bytes) Indicating obligation and willingness: Using modal verbs to indicate obligation.

Introduction
Using will to indicate intention
Using will to predict the future
Using will to make predictions about the present
Using will to indicate willingness
square.gif (58 bytes) Using will to give commands
Using 'll