BillW wrote: ↑Sat Oct 14, 2006 3:23 am
Hi, all.
In English, "will" often means "am willing to" (usually reduced to a contraction).
As, "I will help with the dishes." or more commonly "I'll help with the dishes." I would probably only say the former for clarity in a noisy room.
I have no sense of the Dutch. "Ik wil met de afwas helpen." might mean that it's something I really want to do.
If I have understood right "zal" would be a bit (perhaps comedically) overdramatic when sitting around the table wondering who will clean up.
--Bill
Will and willen are something of false friends. Willen means to want. In English "to will" is an archaic usage meaning about the same thing, while the more modern will + verb simply indicates future tense, same as shall + verb (zullen) or going + infinitive (gaan). In Dutch I believe you could also omit the helper verb entirely if the context implies future, which would sound strange in English.