FUTURE TENSE
A. Will
Affirmative S + will + V
e.g.: He will stay at home.
Negative S + will not (=won’t) + V
e.g.: She won’t take part in the competition.
Questions Yes – No question:
Will + S + V?
Yes, S + will. / No, S + won’t.
e.g.: Will you go to Jim’s house? Yes, I will.
Wh- question:
Wh- + will + S + V?
e.g.: Where will she celebrate her birthday?
She will celebrate her birthday at a
restaurant.
Use
Decisions made at the time of speaking
e.g.: I’ll ring my friend to borrow her car.
Predictions (think, believe, guess, be sure, expect, etc….
probably, maybe, etc.)
e.g.: I think my son will be famous one day.
Promises
e.g.: He won’t be late again. He promised.
Threats
e.g.: Don’t tell anyone or I’ll never speak to you again!
Future facts
e.g.: John will be seventeen years old tomorrow.
Offer to do something for someone
e.g.: Dad will help you clean the house.
Ask someone to do something
e.g.: Will you please cook dinner tonight?
! Watch out
With offers which are questions, we use Shall with I and we
e.g.: Shall I drive you to the airport?
B. Be going to
Affirmative S + am/is/are + going to + V
e.g.: He is going to go to France.
Negative S + am/is/are + not + going to V
e.g.: They aren’t going to choose John as the
class monitor.
Questions Yes – No question:
Am/Is/Are + S + going to V?
Yes, S + am.is/are. / No, S + am/is/are
+ not.
e.g.: Is Anna going to study abroad? No, she
isn’t.
Wh- question:
Wh- + am/is/are + S + going to V?
e.g.: When is she going to get married?
She is going to get married next month.
Use
Future plans
e.g.: They’re going to paint the hall at the weekend.
Predictions of the near future based on present situation
or evidence.
e.g.: Look at the sky! It’s going to rain.
COMPARISONS:
1. Futre plans and events:
Level of certainty:
Present simple: future events that are on a timetable or
follow a schedule. We usually give the time or date of the
event.
e.g.: The show starts on 26th June and finishes on 2nd July.
Present continuous: future plans when fixed arrangements
have been made. We usually use a time expression for the
first time the plan is mentioned.
e.g.: I’m sorry, I can’t come tonight. I’m visiting my grandma
after school. My dad’s picking me up in the car.
Be going to: future plans and intentions when we haven’t
made any definite arrangements yet.
e.g.: When I’m older, I’m going to spend a year travelling.
2. Future predictions:
Be going to: future predictions when there is evidence in the
present situation, especially something we can see or hear.
e.g.: That car’s driving much too fast; it’s going to crash!
Will: future predictions about what we think will happen,
often based on our opinions or on past experience.
e.g.: We won’t find another house as nice as this one.
Might: future possibility – we aren’t sure it will happen.
e.g.: Anton might move house, but he hasn’t decided yet.
