[Grammar] Shall and passive verbs

[Simosito]

Hi,
I was thinking again about shall/will and this question popped out of my mind: if I say "Shall I be killed?" does it mean that I'm asking whether I'm going to be slain or if I should be killed (like in "Shall I leave the room?")?

Thanks,
S~

 

[bhaisahab]

Hi,
I was thinking again about shall/will and this question popped out of my mind: if I say "Shall I be killed?" does it mean that I'm asking whether I'm going to be slain or if I should be killed (like in "Shall I leave the room?")?

Thanks,
S~

It could mean either, as could, "Shall I leave the room?" These are very unlikely to be used in modern English, but you can find this kind of useage in literature.

 

[Simosito]

So if I say "Will I be killed?" I'm not expressing some kind of perverse desire to be killed, right?

 

[bhaisahab]

So if I say "Will I be killed?" I'm not expressing some kind of perverse desire to be killed, right?

No, not at all.

 

[Simosito]

thank you

 

[Raymott]

There is an old example in Fowlers of a man who fell into the Thames, and cried "I will drown and no one shall save me!"
He actually meant "I shall drown and no one will save me!" He was actually crying out for help.
But passersby respected his will to drown and his request that no one save him. So he drowned.

I'm sure there's a moral to this story.