I was informed that the quick answer to last week's question about what is a decent batting average - 0.287.

There you go.

* * *

A regular library patron asked me last week if I could tell her, off the top of my head, the difference between "will" and "shall."

I think I might have said something about "shall" simply being an older or more proper use of the verb, but I really wasn't sure.

Turning first to the trusty Oxford English Dictionary, I was still unsure I had a decent answer -- the accumulated verbiage defining those two terms totals almost 17 pages.

That's fine and all, but too much to sift through for this column.

The fourth edition of the American Heritage Dictionary has a great usage note after its definition of "shall" that begins: "The traditional rules for using shall and will prescribe a highly complicated pattern of use in which the meanings of the forms change according to the person of the subject."

"Shall" is used to express simple futurity in the first person ("I shall return soon"); "will" is used in the same sense for second and third persons ("You will regret this").

When "will" is used in the first person and "shall" in the second and third, the sentence then indicates an expression of determination, a promise, or an obligation.

An example from the American Heritage Dictionary: "I will leave tomorrow" indicates the speaker is determined to leave; "You and she shall leave tomorrow" is likely intended as a command. "You shall have your money" expresses a promise ("I will see that you get your money") whereas "You will have your money tomorrow" can be interpreted as a simple prediction.

The usage note from the dictionary also says "the English and some traditionalist about usage are probably the only people who follow these rules" and often without much consistency.

Americans tend to stick with "will" but "shall" is often used in "first person invitations and questions that request an opinion or agreement ('Shall we go?')."

We also use "shall" in place of "must" -- "Applicants shall provide references of character."

The dictionary warns that Americans who use "shall" according to the traditional rules "runs the risk of sounding pretentious or haughty."

"Shall" is also intended to express a high sense of moral seriousness as it is used in the Bible -- "Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven" (Psalm 85:11).

The usage note closes by saying that the use of "shall" has prophetic overtones as apparent in many of the "loftiest rhetoric in English."

Think of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: "Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

Eric Norris is the adult department librarian at the Hays Public Library. "Ask Eric" questions can be mailed to 1205 Main, Hays, KS, 67601, submitted through www.hayspublib.org at the "Ask Eric" link or e-mailed to enorris@hayspublib.org.