English Grammar Question

[Giorgio]

Can someone explain the rule of thumb to use in the following situation:

You will end up with ....
You end up with ....

or

... that you have to adopt ...
... that you will have to adopt ....

What I would like to learn, is when (or not) to use the word 'will' in a sentence.

Thanks.

[TheShortStack]

PHP questions, fine. Wordpress actions, not a problem. I'm even vaguelly confident talking about basic SEO ... but English grammar? WTF - it's a world to itself!!

I'll give it a go though. In my opinion (and that's all it is), both are gramatically correct and read fine. There's no right and wrong about when to use the word 'will.'

However, what the 'will' does is makes the statement sound like much more of a certainty. Without it there, the sentence doesn't sound as strong. The 'Will' emphasises the point you're trying to make.

[GregW]

No pro, but it sounds like the difference is:

You will end up with - What you will end up with in the future.
You end up with - What you end up with in the present (right now).

I'm sure they both make perfect sense from a gramatical point of view and you could probably interchange them without anyone really noticing any problems. It's just that one is more for a future outcome whereas the other is for the present.

Example

If you go to the car boot sale next week, you will end up with more than you bargained for. - FUTURE - makes sense.
If you go to the car boot sale nest week, you end up with more than you bargained for - PRESENT - doesn't make perfect sense.

[patmcluk]

Hi Gorgio, it is simply a matter of tenses. If you are doing it now, you ....end up with.
If it is to be done in the future you....will end up with.

But in your two examples the difference is so slight as to be irrelevant. ;-}

[Michael Martinez]

"will" puts the action in the future. Omitting "will" makes the action definitive and leaves it in the present.

[LadyHoldem]

Boy there's a lot of ways to say that :P.

[Michael Martinez]

"will" is in the future. Lacking "will" is in the now.

[Giorgio]

Thanks fellows. I have a somewhat better understanding of the word 'will'. I will try to think of it next time I write an article. Or should I say... I try to think of it next time I will write an article.

[Michael Martinez]

That will be good, if you will, Will. And if you have the will to will yourself to will it to Will as your heir, you don't have to put on airs to please your heirs as that might raise the hairs on the backs of the heads of their heads.

[Goose]

Boy there's a lot of ways to say that :P.

A few more pages of variations of the same thing and we should have cracked it!