Expressing the future (Elementary+)

On our Facebook page today, we discussed New Year’s Resolutions and gave a little future-tense quiz.

Post by English42.

And here are the answers! How well did you do? 

I’m going to quit smoking this year. I feel very strongly about this plan: smoking is expensive, my girlfriend hates it, and I need to be healthier. Now that I think about it I’ll need to give up coffee and alcohol too, because when I drink them I always feel like having a cigarette. But it should be easy too: no one is having any parties or going out in January, so there are no planned social events. By December 31^st 2014, I expect to have been cigarette-free for one year! Hopefully, the price of cigarettes will rise in the next 12 months, making it easier for me to quit.

 

For students who don't have very good English, the exercise was difficult. But in this blog you can learn the future tense in English. When you finish, look at the exercise again.
Maybe it will be easier!

EXPRESSING THE FUTURE: TENSES (Elementary+)

There are three forms of the future tense in English: will, going to and the present continuous. They all have different meanings.

Will is used for:

1. Predictions (“Machines will do all the housework in 2050.”/ “It will rain tomorrow.”)
2. A decision about the future (“I think I’ll eat Chinese food tonight.”)

We use will in a sentence like this:

WILL
POSITIVE	[subject] “will” [verb] (rest of sentence) I will stay here tonight.
NEGATIVE	[subject] “won’t” [verb] (rest of sentence) She won’t go to school tomorrow.
QUESTION	“Will” [subject] [verb] (rest of sentence) Will it rain tomorrow morning?

Going to is more serious. We use it for:

1. A decision about the future which we already made (“I’m going to see a movie tonight (I decided this yesterday).” “My mother and I have plans: we’re going to meet my sister next week.”)
2. An event we’re almost 100% certain about (“It’s going to rain tomorrow.” “He’s going to ask her to go on a date with him.”)

We use going to in a sentence like this:

GOING TO
POSITIVE	[subject] [to be] “going to” [verb] (rest of sentence) I am going to visit the zoo.
NEGATIVE	[subject] [to be] “not” “going to” [verb] (rest of sentence) He is not going to wait for a long time.
QUESTION	[to be] [subject] “going to” [verb] (rest of sentence) Are you going to go shopping?

When we use going to, there are two things to remember:

Firstly, the verb “to be” must change if the subject changes, but going to doesn’t change. (“I am going to visit the zoo.” / “He is going to visit the zoo.”)

Secondly, it is okay to say “going to go”. You must use a verb after going to and the verb “go” is just as good as any other verb like “visit” or “wait”.

The present continuous is the most serious way to express the future. We use it when we know something will definitely happen. For example, take these three sentences:

• will: I think I’ll fly to Spain next summer. (This is an idea I have now)
• going to: I’m going to fly to Spain next summer. (This is a plan I made already)
• present continuous: I’m flying to Spain next summer. (I have tickets for the trip)

The last sentence is in the present continuous form. We use the present continuous in a sentence like this:

PRESENT CONTINUOUS
POSITIVE	[subject] [to be] [verb+ing] (rest of sentence) I am meeting my friend tomorrow.
NEGATIVE	[subject] [to be] “not” [verb+ing] (rest of sentence) She is not doing an exam in the morning.
QUESTION	[to be] [subject] [verb+ing] (rest of sentence) Are they travelling for a long time?

ACTIVITY IDEA:
Write 6 sentences about your new year: 2 sentences with "will", 2 sentences with "going to" and 2 sentences with the present continuous.