If you_ me, I shall be grateful to you.

Question

A. helped B. will help C. are helping D. will be helping which one is the correct answer and why?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Todd Z If you help me, I shall be grateful to you.

None of the answers you offered are correct.

CJ

Fivejedjon · Answer

I would give B as a correct and natural answer. Will can mean BE willing to.

Todd Z · Answer

Thanks! This question comes from an english examination which I found quite weird. The answer says "will help" but i don't get it.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Did you read my last post? The sentence means, If you are willing to help me, I shall be grateful.

Cool Breeze · Answer

Todd ZThe answer says "will help" but i don't get it.

That's because you are not familiar with the etymology of will. It used to mean 'to desire, to want' a thousand years ago, and this meaning is still occasionally found in some contexts.

Old English *willan, wyllan "to wish, desire; be willing; be used to; be about to" (past tense wolde), from Proto-Germanic *willjan (source also of Old Saxon willian, Old Norse vilja, Old Frisian willa, Dutch willen, Old High German wellan, German wollen, Gothic wiljan "to will, wish, desire," Gothic waljan "to choose").
Online Etymology Dictionary

By the way, in modern Swedish vilja means 'to want' and it is followed by a bare infinitive just like the English will. The grammatical difference is that vilja is not a modal auxiliary in Swedish. It has all the grammatical forms of an ordinary verb.

CB

Anon203c8 · Answer

@Cool Breeze >> It has all the grammatical forms of an ordinary verb.
Except for making the next verb bare infinitive, right?

Cool Breeze · Answer

Franky12Except for making the next verb bare infinitive, right?

I don't understand what you mean. I don't think I can explain my point any better than I have already done. Some examples:

Jag vill göra det. (I want to do it.)
Jag ville inte göra get. (I didn't want to do it.)

Jag har velat göra det många gånger. (I have wanted to do it many times.)

In all those sentences a bare/plain infinitive (göra) is used after three different forms of vilja. The first sentence is in the present tense, the second in the past tense and the third in the present perfect.

CB

Todd Z · Answer

Got it. Thanks

If you_ me, I shall be grateful to you.

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