Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - shall

~ modal verb negative short form shan't 1 I/we shall used to express what you will do in the future  (We shall be away next week. | I shall have finished it by Friday.) 2 shall I/we? BrE used to make a suggestion, or ask a question that you want the other person to decide about  (Shall I open the window? | What shall I get for dinner? | Shall we say 6 o'clock, then?) 3 you/he/she/they shall formal or old-fashioned used to describe what will happen to someone, especially when you are saying that it is very definite  (They shall be judged only by God. | I said you could go, and so you shall.) 4 we shall see spoken used when you do not know what will happen in the future, or when you do not want to give someone a definite answer 5 formal used in official documents to show a law, command, promise etc  (All payments shall be made by the end of the month.)