A MULTI-MEANING ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH WORD “WILL

Abstract

The English modal verb "will" is one of the most commonly used and semantically versatile words in the language. Though widely recognized as a future tense marker, "will" expresses far more than just futurity. This thesis explores the polysemous nature of "will", identifying its various roles in expressing determination, habitual action, volition, promises, and logical prediction. This comprehensive analysis demonstrates the grammatical and pragmatic functions of "will" through linguistic theory and real-world usage examples in both spoken and written English.