Indicating obligation and willingness

Using modal verbs to indicate willingness

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Indicating strong willingness

With strong willingness, the speaker or person referred to is totally committed to the course of action. This can be glossed as determination.

Here is a list of modals which are typically used to indicate determination:

Captain Mirko Pintar stormed out of the cockpit and sat down in a passenger seat. "I am the pilot, I will not take the responsibility. The plane is overloaded," he shouted at the ground staff, the colour rising in his face. (Microconcord Corpus A)

I cannot and I will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions.
(Lillian Hellman)

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender! (Winston Churchill)

Note that the presence of modal adverbials is very often an indication of the level of willingness:

I will certainly grill him if I'm able to see him. (Bank of English)

A domestic helper, who asked to be known as Lilia, said: Everything will be changed after '97. I will definitely leave. I don't want to be under a communist government. I was born in the Philippines in a democratic government so I cannot adapt." (SCMP 6/4/94)

For further information about using adverbials, see Indicating obligation and willingness: Using adverbials to indicate likelihood.

Introduction
Degrees of willingness
Indicating strong willingness
Indicating mid willingness
Indicating low willingness