possibility of 'will'

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sho - 13 Jan 2009 00:43 GMT

Hi there,

in order to write our customer sales report, I need to know the
possibility of ' will ' .

If I say, we will contract a work with our customer in Jan. Does it
mean 100% possibility? or 50% possibility?

I want to know the possibility of ' will '.

thanks in advance.

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Einde O'Callaghan - 13 Jan 2009 05:37 GMT

> Hi there,
>
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>
> I want to know the possibility of ' will '.

It's not that simple. "Will" has a number of different usages. In your
case the most important are:

a) Spontaneous intention at the time of writing.

b) Future fact, e.g. "Tom will be 40m next Saturday".

In this context it would appear that b) is the more likely. So it could
be 100% probability. But to be absolutely certain I'd need to have more
context. i.e. not just the sentence on its own.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

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Jim Karatassos - 17 Jan 2009 07:19 GMT

> Hi there,
>
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> thanks in advance.

"Will" is typically used for agreements or promises.

I'll pay you $1100 at the end of the month.
I will always loves you.

As Einde pointed out, however, it would take more context to make a
better judgment.

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Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / January 2009

possibility of 'will'