We do not use will to say what somebody has already arranged or decided to do in the future:

•    Ann is working next week. (not ‘Ann will work’)

•   Are you going to watch television this evening?  (not ‘will you watch’)

But often, when we talk about the future, we are not talking about what somebody has decided to do. For example:

CHRIS: Do you think Ann will pass the exam?

JOE:      Yes, she’ll pass easily.

  ‘She’ll pass’ does not mean ‘she has decided to pass’. Joe is saying what he knows or thinks will happen. He is predicting the future.

When we predict a future happening or situation, we use will/won’t.

•    Jill has been away a long time. When she returns, she’ll find a lot of changes.

•   ‘Where will you be this time next year?’ ‘I’ll be in Japan.’

•   That plate is very hot. If you touch it, you’ll burn yourself.

•   Tom won’t pass the examination. He hasn’t worked  hard enough for it.

•    When will you know your exam results?

 We often use will (’ll) with:

probably           ▪ I’ll probably be home late this evening.

I expect             ▪ I haven’t seen Carol today. I expect she’ll phone this evening.

(I’m) sure         ▪ Don’t worry about the exam. I’m sure you’ll phone this evening.

(I) think            ▪  Do you think Sarah will like the present we bought her?

(I) don’t think  ▪ I don’t think the exam will be very difficult.

I wonder           ▪ I wonder what will happen.

  After (I) hope, we generally use the present:

•      I hope Carol phones this evening.

•      I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.

 Generally we use will to talk about the future, but sometimes we use will to talk about now. for

       example

•       Don’t phone Ann now. She’ll be busy. (= I know she’ll be busy now)

I shall …. /we shall…

     Normally we use shall only with I and we.

      You  can say I shall or I will (I’ll), we shall or we will (we’ll):

•  I shall be tired this evening. (or I will be …)

•  We shall probably go to Scotland for our holiday.

• (or We will probably go….)

         In spoken English we normally use I’ll and we’ll:

•  We’ll probably go to Scotland.

         The negative of shall is shall not or shan’t:

•    I shan’t be here tomorrow. (or I won’t be…)

         Do not use shall with he/she/it/you/they:

•     She will be very angry. (not ‘she shall be’)