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I have sometimes heard people using won't where I feel is not should be used

For example Someone is not coming out , so they say "He won't come out" instead of "He is not coming out" So here , doesn't won't mean "He will not come out" But shouldn't the correct sentence be "He is not coming out" ?

JIM
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  • Hi Jim, "he won't" definitely does mean "he will not". Have you considered the other meaning of "will" - i.e. not in the sense of something in the future, but of a person's will or intent? – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Sep 19 '18 at 05:20
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    but what about non-living objects , as pointed out by @ruakh suppose the door won't open , which means it is stuck or locked . Then are we talking about will of the door(a non-living object) ? – JIM Sep 19 '18 at 07:13
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    @JIM Yes, because we might also say 'The door refuses to open'. – Kate Bunting Sep 19 '18 at 08:09
  • @KateBunting But are we correct while saying this ? – JIM Sep 19 '18 at 08:37
  • 'His leg is broken so he won't run the race tomorrow.' 'He objects to the rules so he won't run the race tomorrow.' Will not expresses both the matter of future impossibility and future unwillingness. But the outcome is identical. – Nigel J Sep 19 '18 at 12:24
  • but can won't this be used for objects like "The door won't open"? – JIM Sep 19 '18 at 12:38
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    Whether strictly 'correct' or not, it's perfectly normal in colloquial speech to refer to an inanimate object as though it were deliberately not cooperating. "This knot won't come undone" or "The stone refuses to budge". – Kate Bunting Sep 19 '18 at 16:13

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The English verb will is related to the noun will, which is one's capacity to want or wish to do something. Originally, the verb had a meaning similar to want/wish, as it still does in Dutch: the verb willen means "to want".

Then at some point its meaning began to partially shift from desirability to probability: he will do it means "it is highly probable for him to do it in the future" rather than "he wants to do it now". It is common for probability and desirability to be somewhat fluid and shift around in all European languages I know. See this question, whose answers contain a more thorough explanation of the shift.

So the verb will changed from wanting to future probability, but not quite: in certain uses, it still (partially) has this old meaning of desirability. The type of sentence you quoted is a good example:

He won't come out.

What this really and originally means is "he doesn't want to come out", the old meaning of the verb. Perhaps the sense of wish or desire is not entirely clear any more to most modern speakers, but it is the reason behind this construction. The fact that we find it odd when we think about it is testimony to that.

Cerberus - Reinstate Monica
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    I'm not sure. We often use this exact construction for inanimate objects (e.g., "The door won't open" meaning that it's locked or stuck or whatnot), and I don't think we're anthropomorphizing when we do that. – ruakh Sep 19 '18 at 03:54
  • So how do we get to know that the person saying won't is actually talking about 'wanting' or about 'will not' ?? – JIM Sep 19 '18 at 04:34
  • @ruakh Same doubt even I have now . – JIM Sep 19 '18 at 04:35
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    I think what Cerberus is alluding to is the nuance typical of English words, where there are shades of overlapping meaning. "This door won't budge" and "he won't come out" are both statements of future likelihood, but both capture a certain implicit wilfulness (yes, anthropomorphising the door, as we tend to do about "stubborn" [sic] things) which is quite different from saying "it's a holiday tomorrow so the community bus won't run." – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Sep 19 '18 at 07:43
  • @Chappo in the sentence "it's a holiday tomorrow so the community bus won't run." , we are sure that this is about future and not about willingness ? – JIM Sep 19 '18 at 13:00
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    I've changed my mind about my previous comment; we also often say things like "The door didn't want to open" or "The door refused to open", so maybe "The door wouldn't open" really is the same sort of low-level anthropomorphism. – ruakh Sep 19 '18 at 18:08
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The "will not" or "won't" sometimes implies it's the choice (will) of the subject. "He isn't" does not. Nevertheless, "He won't" is idiomatic for the same thing, at least in modern usage.

Steve Smith
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  • 'His leg is broken, he isn't running tomorrow.' 'He objects to the rules, he isn't running tomorrow.' I would say that 'he isn't' still covers both meanings. – Nigel J Sep 19 '18 at 12:27