Friday, June 22

Future Tense




Talking about the future
Present continuous
·         Personal plans, decisions that have already been made.
·         Appointments, arrangements when we mention the time and place.
I’m meeting my sister on Sunday.
Are you doing anything this evening?
I’m working on Saturday.
They are flying on Wednesday
Compare:
We are opening a new office in New York next year.
(We have already started looking for premises.)
We are going to open a new office in New York next year.
(This is only an intention; no plans have been made yet.)
Be going to + infinitive
·         Intentions decided before the time of speaking, when no real plans have been made yet.
·         Predictions based on evidence, when we can ‘see things coming’; when it is clear what is going to happen.
I’m going to learn French.
This is going to be the kitchen.
It’s going to rain.
She’s going to have a baby.
Will
a)    Predictions based on personal intuitions (rather than visible evidence).
                                                   Tomorrow will be warm and sunny 
                                       I think Manchester will beat Liverpool 2-0.
b)    To make a decision or offer spontaneously (at the moment of speaking).
                                                   The phone is ringing. Ok, I’ll answer it.
 I’ve lost my wallet. I’ll help you find it.  
c)    To talk about future states & events with verbs that don’t take the present continuous.
 She’ll be 30 next October. 
 We will know tomorrow

-    (On the phone) Fantastic! Well have a meeting to discuss the details. -    We are going to have a meeting to discuss the details but we haven’t fixed a date yet.  
-  Were having a meeting tomorrow to discuss the details.

-          ‘I  am studying  English tonight.’
-          ‘I  am going to study  English tonight.’
-          ‘I’ll study  English tonight.’

          

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