Difference Between Shall Be and Can Be (With Table)

The word shall be and can be both are used words that occur in almost every sentence. There is uniqueness between shall be and can be. Shall is a future tense word used for an activity you are going to do soon in the future.

Shall Be vs Can Be

 The main difference between shall be and can be is that shall be is used in future tense and can be is used in present tense amongst the various and unique tenses you might have learned. They shall be and can be words that are used in different ways by the users in different areas. 

The words come with similarities and differences. So, they shall be and can be words have with them. The word can have different meanings and use, shall be is a pure form of a future tensed word like usage of will. Shall be word get also determined as a substitute of the word will be. Both work the same but with a slight variant.

The usage of can be, for example, I shall do it tomorrow, or we shall be there in a while soon. And for the example, of can be, I can play well. Can be is used with first-person singular present form. Can be is used as a past singular form using could be. For example, I could play it.

Comparison Table Between Shall Be and Can Be

Parameters of Comparison

Shall Be

Can Be

It’s Meaning

In the future what will happen.

In preset what is happening in a promising tone?

Usage

Usage of the shall get for future expectations.

It gets used in present form promising aspects.

Tense

It is used in the future tense.

It is used in the present tense.

Person

Used with 1st person and 1st person plural.

Used with 2nd and 3rd person singular.

Singular or Plural

The singular 1st person gets used. 

It gets used with plural 3rd person. 

What is Shall Be?

Shall be is a word form that gets specially used in the form of future tense. The word shall be denoting and express the inevitable behavior. Shall be can also get used in the simple types of sentences in the future tense.

Shall lies in the genre of words that are moral verbs. These words are good at indicating what gets going to happen strongly in the future or what you shall do in the future. Here in the article as well, it gets used here it can get written like this. For example, what you shall be doing in the upcoming week?

Shall be getting always got confused with will both have different usage. The usage of will be is with the singular future tense 2nd or 3rd person form. On the other hand, the word shall be gets used with the 1st person plural.

The word will get used in the second person and also in the third person but singular persons. Shall be is used with 1st person plural and 1st person singular form

What is Can Be?

The word can also have alternatives like the could be, maybe, and many more if you go through the Internet afterward. You can check the various pages regarding more synonymous sentences of both words. 

Also, you can get through the article and mark out the usage of such annoying but helpful words. These words are easy to use once you understand them in detail. Yet both are similar but takes the overall weight in differences.

There are various synonymous you can use the has, must, need, ought to, and should be. During the 16th and 17th century the word was classified with the usage in comparison to will be. Can be is still different than will. You might have been more confused than can be and will be.

Main Differences Between Shall Be and Can Be

  1. The shall be word is used in the future form and can be is used in present form.
  2. Shall be is used in the plural and singular forms both. On the other hand, can be gets used in the singular only. 
  3. The main one is that they shall be is the future tensed word, and the can be is the present tensed word.
  4. The shall be word gets used as a modal verb and can be used as a helping verb.
  5. Shall be gets used in an excepted situation and can be gets used in the present situation. 

Conclusion

Various nations also sort out words and add up new ones. For example, in India, the usage of can be is more as compared to shall. Maybe in other parts shall be get used more often.

Language is hard to learn, and people who learn English get stuck to a point where they cannot guess the difference between can be and shall be. Lack of English learned people also affects the style of speaking using the correct forms of tenses with the words. The word can be get used in a way to give an alternative or get into a promising tone. On the other hand, they shall be can be used to a strong suggestion regarding the future.

Can be on the hand gets used in a present tensed singular or plural sentence both. If you might know the basic grammar, you can easily distinguish between them both. Can be is still easier to learn and understand as compared to shall be.

Well, both the words have different purposes and meanings as per different sentences. Can is present tensed and denotes promising tone. On the other hand, shall be is used in the future tense but has various alternatives as well, that’s it!!

References

  1. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/1899475.1899502
  2. https://epubs.siam.org/doi/abs/10.1137/0719063