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Here is the context:

Thank you, Mr Chairman. I'll start with an overview of the general situation and then move on to some specific areas of concern... I think most people will be familiar with the 1992 UN paper on population. Since then...

Why is the use of the future simple in this sentence? Is it another way of saying that "most people might be familiar with..."? I didn't find this particular use of the future simple in my grammar book...

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    If it helps you understand the answers, English doesn't have a real future tense. Really it only has past tense and non-past tense. We use modal verbs to express the future (will, to be going to) just like we use them to express possibilities (might, may, can, could, would), desires (want to), and requirements (need to, must). Commented Jul 2 at 18:07
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    And the names of the tenses. The "simple" tenses are formed with one word and no auxiliary "I do" and "I did". There is no "simple future". The two main ways to speak of the future are "I will do" and "I'm going to do" Neither of these are "simple" constructions. Commented Jul 2 at 19:26
  • You didn't find what use in your grammar book? Commented Jul 2 at 22:38
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    It helps to use dictionaries. The Cambridge Dictionary says this: Certainty in the future One of the main uses of will is to refer to things in the future that we think are certain: Commented Jul 2 at 22:47
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    @Lambie: But the crucial point with "I think most people will be familiar with the 1992 UN paper" in the given context is that "will be familiar" doesn't refer to the future at all. It refers to the present: The speaker is certain that most of the people there in the audience are right now, in the present, familiar with the 1992 paper. That's why they won't need to repeat it's contents when they want to discuss what has happened since then. Commented Jul 3 at 16:31

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We can use 'will' to express beliefs about the present (or future):

It's 9.30 am. John will be in his office. (present)
The bus is slow. We will be late. (future)

'Will' and 'would' (British Council)

In a formal context, such as the speech you quoted, we can use 'will' as a polite way of expressing belief that a person or persons know something or someone. This can be a polite or formal way of telling, or reminding, the listener about something. It is said to be more used in British English speaking areas.

Your majesty, this is Mr Jones, who, you will recall, is the mayor of Coaltown.

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    My Yank intuition is that this present-tense use of auxiliary will sounds more Brit than stars-and-stripes. Commented Jul 2 at 11:34
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    @PaulTanenbaum - yes, but... Jack Benny, as you will recall, Mr. President, built his persona around his stinginess and his unwillingness to spend money. So here is the joke. Jack Benny went in to see his doctor. And the doctor looked at the X-rays and said, 'Mr. Benny, you need an operation, and it is going to cost you $400.' And Jack Benny responded by saying, 'Doctor, for $25 can't you just touch up the X-ray?' US Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 203 (Monday, December 18, 1995) I think that is Robert F. Bennett (R, Utah). Commented Jul 2 at 17:16
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    Cambridge Dictionary is best here: Certainty in the future "One of the main uses of will is to refer to things in the future that we think are certain:" SInce you already have 5 pts. I daren't make it an answer. Commented Jul 2 at 22:46
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    @PaulTanenbaum I'd say more "formal" than "British", but in the US the two are often conflated. Commented Jul 3 at 16:34
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will is a so-called modal verb. Modal verbs are used to express that what is said is not a pure declaration of fact. Rather, the speaker is expressing a belief, an assumption, a conjecture, a supposition, a prediction, an intention; or with other modal verbs, a recommendation, a conviction about the proper course of action, an obligation, and so on.

I think most people will be familiar with...

vs

I think most people are familiar with ...

will be is an explicit recognition by the speaker that they are expressing an assumption. It might be a very reasonable assumption to make, but it is an assumption nonetheless.

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  • "I think most people will be familiar" is a bit redundant. You can just say "Most people will be familiar" or indeed as you noted "I think most people are familiar". Both express the assumption. Commented Jul 5 at 9:27
  • @MSalters Remove "I think" and then are does not express an assumption but is a declaration of fact (Most people are familiar with...) whereas will be is something less, or other, than a declaration of fact: Most people will be familiar with... Commented Jul 5 at 10:08
  • That's not my point. You need either "think" or "will be" to express the assumption. Leave out both and you indeed declare a fact, but my point was about having both, not omitting both Commented Jul 5 at 18:30
  • @MSalters With modal will, it falls short of a declaration of fact. "Most people are familiar" and "Most people will be familiar" are not identical. will introduces some distancing-from-fact, even if the "distance" is very small. "He will be at the office now" is not the same as "He is at the office now". You can't "leave out both" (think and will be) for then you have no verb in the sentence. Commented Jul 6 at 10:16
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Will can be used to express natural tendencies and frequent actions.

From Merriam-Webster meaning 4 (I've edited to make full sentences)

[Some people] will get angry over nothing.

[He] will work one day and loaf the next.

Closely related, it's also used to express inevitabilities (meaning 6a).

Accidents will happen.

In all these cases there are alternative ways of expressing it, e.g. with the simple present ("Some people get angry over nothing") or with an adverb ("Accidents always happen"). Using "will" emphasises that it's repeated.

Note that this is distinct from the hypothetical "would".

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  • It's not habitual - at least, not to me as a native speaker. It's closer to meaning 5 in MW: "Used to express probability and often equivalent to the simple verb. That will be the babysitter." (To add context to this example, imagine a married couple sitting in the living room when the doorbell rings and the husband/wife says it to the other person.) Commented Jul 2 at 17:50
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I think most people will be familiar with the 1992 UN paper on population.

  1. The "I think" implies that the speaker has no statistical information available but thinks that they are being accurate. The speaker hopes for agreement.

  2. There is a hidden "if clause.

The full version is thus:

I think [that] you will find that most people, if you were to ask them, will be familiar with the 1992 UN paper on population.

Obviously, the asking has not taken place yet, so their answers must be in the future.

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