Will vs. Can: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Published on January 21, 2024
'Will' is used to express future actions or intentions, while 'can' indicates ability or possibility.
Key Differences
'Will' is used to indicate a future action or intention, showing commitment or decision. 'Can' suggests ability or possibility in the present or future, but without the commitment implied by 'will'.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
'Can' is used to express someone's ability to do something. 'Will' does not imply ability but rather the intention or decision to act in the future.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
'Will' is often used in formal contexts or to make polite offers and requests. 'Can', while also used in polite requests, is more informal and direct.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
'Will' is commonly used in questions to inquire about future actions or decisions. 'Can' is used to ask about someone's ability or to request permission.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
The negative forms, 'will not' or 'won't', and 'cannot' or 'can't', show refusal and inability, respectively. In questions, 'will' seeks confirmation about the future, while 'can' asks about capability.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
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Comparison Chart
Usage
Expresses future actions or intentions.
Indicates ability or possibility.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
Formality
Often more formal, used in polite requests.
More informal, direct.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
Auxiliary in Questions
Used to inquire about future actions.
Used to ask about ability or permission.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
Negation
'Will not' or 'won't' indicates refusal.
'Cannot' or 'can't' indicates inability.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
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Will and Can Definitions
Will
Expresses determination or promise.
She will finish the project on time.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 03, 2024
Will
Describes a habitual action.
He will often go for a walk in the evenings.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 03, 2024
Will
The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action
Championed freedom of will against a doctrine of predetermination.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
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Can
An airtight container, usually made of tin-coated iron, in which foods or beverages are preserved.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
Diligent purposefulness; determination
An athlete with the will to win.
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Jan 02, 2024
Will
Self-control; self-discipline
Lacked the will to overcome the addiction.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
A desire, purpose, or determination, especially of one in authority
It is the sovereign's will that the prisoner be spared.
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Jan 02, 2024
Will
Deliberate intention or wish
Let it be known that I took this course of action against my will.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
Free discretion; inclination or pleasure
Wandered about, guided only by will.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
To seal in an airtight container for future use; preserve
Canning peaches.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
A legal declaration of how a person wishes their personal possessions to be disposed of after death.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
(Slang) To make a recording of
Can the audience's applause for a TV comedy show.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
To put an end or stop to
Canned the TV show after one season.
Told the students to can the chatter.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
To yearn for; desire
“She makes you will your own destruction” (George Bernard Shaw).
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
To solicit cash donations for a charity or other organization such as a club or amateur sports team by holding out a can or other container in a public place.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
To decree, dictate, or order
Believed that the outcome was willed by the gods.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
To know how to; to be able to.
She can speak English, French, and German.
I can play football.
Can you remember your fifth birthday?
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
To induce or try to induce by sheer force of will
We willed the sun to come out.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
May; to be permitted or enabled to.
You can go outside and play when you're finished with your homework.
Can I use your pen?
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
(modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have the potential to; be possible.
Can it be Friday already?
Teenagers can really try their parents' patience.
Animals can experience emotions.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
To order to direct in a legal will
She willed that her money be given to charity.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
Used with verbs of perception.
Can you hear that?.
I can feel the baby moving inside me.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
To wish; desire
Do what you will. Sit here if you will. See Usage Note at shall.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
To preserve by heating and sealing in a jar or can.
They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
(auxiliary) Used to express the future tense, sometimes with some implication of volition when used in the first person. Compare shall.
One of our salesmen will visit you tomorrow.
I will pass this exam.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
To discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
(auxiliary) To be able to, to have the capacity to.
Unfortunately, only one of these gloves will actually fit over my hand.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
(auxiliary) Expressing a present tense with some conditional or subjective weakening: "will turn out to", "must by inference".
He will be home by now. He always gets home before 6 o'clock.
I can't find my umbrella. I will have forgotten it home this morning.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
(auxiliary) To choose or agree to (do something); used to express intention but without any temporal connotations (+ bare infinitive), often in questions and negation.
Will you marry me?
I’ve told him three times, but he won’t take his medicine.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
(transitive) To cover (the fuel element in a nuclear reactor) with a protective cover.
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Jan 02, 2024
Can
A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium, but sometimes of plastic, and with a carrying handle over the top.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).
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Jan 02, 2024
Can
A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
A chamber pot, now a toilet or lavatory.
Shit or get off the can.
Bob's in the can. You can wait a few minutes or just leave it with me.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
(transitive) To bequeath (something) to someone in one's will (legal document).
He willed his stamp collection to the local museum.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
(transitive) To exert one's force of will (intention) in order to compel, or attempt to compel, something to happen or someone to do something.
All the fans were willing their team to win the game.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
(slang) Jail or prison.
Bob's in the can. He won't be back for a few years.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
One's independent faculty of choice; the ability to be able to exercise one's choice or intention.
Of course, man's will is often regulated by his reason.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
The act of choosing to do something; a person’s conscious intent or volition.
Most creatures have a will to live.
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Jan 02, 2024
Will
One's intention or decision; someone's orders or commands.
Eventually I submitted to my parents' will.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
(nautical) A cube-shaped buoy or marker used to denote a port-side lateral mark
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Jan 02, 2024
Will
(law) A formal declaration of one's intent concerning the disposal of one's property and holdings after death; the legal document stating such wishes.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
(archaic) Desire, longing. (Now generally merged with later senses.)
He felt a great will to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
The power of choosing; the faculty or endowment of the soul by which it is capable of choosing; the faculty or power of the mind by which we decide to do or not to do; the power or faculty of preferring or selecting one of two or more objects.
It is necessary to form a distinct notion of what is meant by the word "volition" in order to understand the import of the word will, for this last word expresses the power of mind of which "volition" is the act.
Will is an ambiguous word, being sometimes put for the faculty of willing; sometimes for the act of that faculty, besides [having] other meanings. But "volition" always signifies the act of willing, and nothing else.
Appetite is the will's solicitor, and the will is appetite's controller; what we covet according to the one, by the other we often reject.
The will is plainly that by which the mind chooses anything.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
An obs. form of began, imp. & p. p. of Begin, sometimes used in old poetry. [See Gan.]
With gentle words he can faile gree.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
The choice which is made; a determination or preference which results from the act or exercise of the power of choice; a volition.
The word "will," however, is not always used in this its proper acceptation, but is frequently substituted for "volition", as when I say that my hand mover in obedience to my will.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
A drinking cup; a vessel for holding liquids.
Fill the cup and fill can,Have a rouse before the morn.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
The choice or determination of one who has authority; a decree; a command; discretionary pleasure.
Thy will be done.
Our prayers should be according to the will of God.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
A vessel or case of tinned iron or of sheet metal, of various forms, but usually cylindrical; as, a can of tomatoes; an oil can; a milk can.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
Strong wish or inclination; desire; purpose.
My poverty, but not my will, consents; . . . Put this in any liquid thing you will,And drink it off.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
That which is strongly wished or desired.
What's your will, good friar?
The mariner hath his will.
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Jan 02, 2024
Can
To know; to understand.
I can rimes of Rodin Hood.
I can no Latin, quod she.
Let the priest in surplice white,That defunctive music can.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
Arbitrary disposal; power to control, dispose, or determine.
Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
To be able to do; to have power or influence.
The will of Him who all things can.
For what, alas, can these my single arms?
Mæcænas and Agrippa, who can most with Cæsar.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
The legal declaration of a person's mind as to the manner in which he would have his property or estate disposed of after his death; the written instrument, legally executed, by which a man makes disposition of his estate, to take effect after his death; testament; devise. See the Note under Testament, 1.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
To be able; - followed by an infinitive without to; as, I can go, but do not wish to.
Yet he could not but acknowledge to himself that there was something calculated to impress awe, . . . in the sudden appearances and vanishings . . . of the masque
Tom felt that this was a rebuff for him, and could not but understand it as a left-handed hit at his employer.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
To wish; to desire; to incline to have.
A wife as of herself no thing ne sholde [should]Wille in effect, but as her husband wolde [would].
Caleb said unto her, What will thou ?
They would none of my counsel.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
As an auxiliary, will is used to denote futurity dependent on the verb. Thus, in first person, "I will" denotes willingness, consent, promise; and when "will" is emphasized, it denotes determination or fixed purpose; as, I will go if you wish; I will go at all hazards. In the second and third persons, the idea of distinct volition, wish, or purpose is evanescent, and simple certainty is appropriately expressed; as, "You will go," or "He will go," describes a future event as a fact only. To emphasize will denotes (according to the tone or context) certain futurity or fixed determination.
I am able to devote as much time and attention to other subjects as I will [shall] be under the necessity of doing next winter.
A countryman, telling us what he had seen, remarked that if the conflagration went on, as it was doing, we would [should] have, as our next season's employment, the Old Town of Edinburgh to rebuild.
I feel assured that I will [shall] not have the misfortune to find conflicting views held by one so enlightened as your excellency.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
To be willing; to be inclined or disposed; to be pleased; to wish; to desire.
And behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus . . . touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
To form a distinct volition of; to determine by an act of choice; to ordain; to decree.
By all law and reason, that which the Parliament will not, is no more established in this kingdom.
Two things he [God] willeth, that we should be good, and that we should be happy.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
The fleshy part of the human body that you sit on;
He deserves a good kick in the butt
Are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
To enjoin or command, as that which is determined by an act of volition; to direct; to order.
They willed me say so, madam.
Send for music,And will the cooks to use their best of cunningTo please the palate.
As you go, will the lord mayor . . . To attend our further pleasure presently.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
To give or direct the disposal of by testament; to bequeath; to devise; as, to will one's estate to a child; also, to order or direct by testament; as, he willed that his nephew should have his watch.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
To exercise an act of volition; to choose; to decide; to determine; to decree.
At Winchester he lies, so himself willed.
He that shall turn his thoughts inward upon what passes in his own mind when he wills.
I contend for liberty as it signifies a power in man to do as he wills or pleases.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
The capability of conscious choice and decision and intention;
The exercise of their volition we construe as revolt
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
Terminate the employment of;
The boss fired his secretary today
The company terminated 25% of its workers
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
A fixed and persistent intent or purpose;
Where there's a will there's a way
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
A legal document declaring a person's wishes regarding the disposal of their property when they die
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Can
Describing a general capability.
This device can last up to 10 hours on a single charge.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 03, 2024
Will
Leave or give by will after one's death;
My aunt bequeathed me all her jewelry
My grandfather left me his entire estate
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 02, 2024
Will
Used in laws or regulations.
Visitors will not enter without permission.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 03, 2024
Repeatedly Asked Queries
Is 'will' formal or informal?
It's often more formal, especially in requests.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
Can 'can' be used in formal requests?
It's less formal; 'may' is more formal for permissions.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
Can 'can' express future actions?
It mainly indicates present ability, not future actions.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
How do you form a question with 'will'?
Start with 'will', followed by the subject. E.g., "Will you go?"
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
How do you ask about ability using 'can'?
Use 'can' followed by the subject. E.g., "Can she drive?"
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 21, 2024
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Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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