THE EXPRESSION OF FUTURE IN

CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH
Joo Bittencourt de Oliveira (UERJ/UNESA)1

Introduction
In our previous articles, we discussed the progressive
forms in the English verb (Cadernos Seminal 11, 2001: 7387) and the category of aspect in English: the perfect aspect
(Cadernos Seminal 13, 2003:95-106). In the present article,
we will discuss the expression of future in contemporary
English.
As EFL teachers, we will often be faced with the task of
distinguishing between types of future, especially if the
mother tongue of the student (like Portuguese and other
Latin languages) uses fewer devices to express future time
than English.
The English language has no formal future tense, but of
course it is possible to talk about future time. 2 In fact, a
number of different verb forms is possible and the choice of
the correct one is frequently a source of confusion for
foreign learners. It is not possible to give simple, easily
accessible, comprehensive rules which describe the different
possible forms. Much of the discussion in this article
concerns the fact that the choice of verb form to express the
future often depends on the speakers attitude. In many
cases alternative forms are possible.
Variety of expression and modal implication
There are a number of ways of expressing future time in
English, there being no specific future tense in the

language. For pedagogical purposes, these various forms

will be considered in the following order:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

WILL/SHALL + Infinitive
BE GOING TO + Infinitive
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE
SIMPLE PRESENT
WILL/SHALL + Progressive Infinitive
BE TO + Infinitive

These verb forms all have their particular shades of

meaning, and are far from being generally interchangeable.
There are restrictions of various sorts on the occurrence of
the different future constructions, some of them resulting
from semantic incompatibility and others from a purely
grammatical nature.
Reference to the future is usually colored by the wishes
and feelings of the speaker or other persons concerned.
Thus, in most cases modal implication will be associated
with reference to events described as future in relation to the
present moment. Our task in this article will be to explain
the basic differences.
WILL and SHALL
Will and shall have the double function of modal
auxiliaries and auxiliaries of the future.3 The two functions
are so closely intermingled that it is difficult to separate
them. However, we will restrict our analysis only to the
future function of the auxiliaries in this article.
As LEECH (1971: 52) points out
One of reasons for the confusion of future
and modal uses of will and shall lies in the
very nature of futurity. We cannot be as
certain of future happenings as we are of
events past and present, and for this reason,

even the most confident prognostication

must indicate something of the speakers
attitude and so be tinged with modality.

When used in combination with verbs denoting events

that do not depend on the will of anyone concerned for their
occurrences, shall denotes predictions or speculations about
the future with I or we:4
I shall be twenty-eight tomorrow.
We shall soon know the truth.
When used in combination with verbs denoting voluntary
actions, shall may express a promise or intention on the part
of the speaker. In affirmative and negative sentences, this
meaning may be found with I or we:
I shall give you a car when youre eighteen. (=I promise
to give)
We shall do our best. (= We promise to do)
I shall not leave before midnight. (= I promise)
We shall not tell your secret you neednt worry.
In formal speaking and writing, shall is used as stated
above. In this case will is used for the simple future (first
meaning) of the second and third persons:
The meeting will be held tomorrow.
You will probably not like this book.
The twins will be seven next year.
You wont know until tomorrow.
And for the second meaning with I and we:
I will be there, whatever happens.
We will meet you at the station.
Will is used in the purely predictive sense in sentences
with non-personal subject:
Tomorrows weather will be cold and cloudy.

(I predict that)
Next year will be our tenth wedding anniversary.
When used in combination with verbs denoting voluntary
actions (second meaning), will may express, with all three
persons, the volition of the subject of the sentence:
Ill check this letter for you, if you want.
Hell take you home you only have to ask.
We wont lend you any money.
In ordinary modern use, will is more often used than shall
in the first and second meanings:
Ill probably not be able to go.
I will plan to be there.
The second meaning is usually expressed in speech by a
degree of emphasis on shall or will:
I want that prize and I shall win it!
Or by adding words like certainly:
You will certainly be punished.
Or by using instead modals like must or have to:
I must introduce you to my brother.
It is evident that will and shall are similar in meaning.
They are not, however, identical.
Shall is a relatively uncommon modal in modern English,
although common (especially in British English) in
questions or offers, especially with I and we, asking the
hearer to decide, as in:
Shall I get you a chair? Yes, please. (=Would you
like me to?
Shall we go now? Yes, lets.

The question tag shall I? (NOT will I?) is used to

confirm that somebody agrees with your suggestion:
Ill make some sandwiches to take with us, shall I?
The shall/will contrast is clearly shown by the pair:
What time will we arrive?
What time shall we arrive?
The first invites the listeners opinion of what, given the
present circumstances, is inevitable. The question would be
appropriate during a journey from a passenger to the driver
you know the situation, please give me the information.
With shall, the listener is involved in the creation of the
inevitability. The question suggests What time do you think
it is appropriate for us to arrive? Two people are discussing
arrangements for a future event.
Will/shall followed by the perfect infinitive is the usual
means of expressing PAST IN FUTURE in English; i.e., of
referring to a state or event seen in the past from a point of
orientation in the future:
By next Wednesday, Ill have moved into a new house.
Tomorrow Jean and Ken will have been married for
twenty years.
Be going to + Infinitive
After will/shall, the next most important way of
expressing future time is the construction be going to +
Infinitive. This form is used if, at the moment of speaking,
the speaker has evidence for the future event that is, when
we see something will cause something else to happen in the
future and usually very soon: the evidence may be either
external, as in:
Stop! The rope is going to break!

Shes going to have another baby. (=Shes already

pregnant)
Or internal, as in:
Im going to stay at home and write letters.
Next year were going to have a holiday.
According to LEECH (1971: 54-55), this meaning is
found chiefly with human subjects, and with doing or
agentive verbs which imply conscious exercises of the
will. Thus a sentence like
*I wonder if shes going to know you
sounds odd because one cannot will oneself into knowing
somebody.
From the speakers point of view such uses are similar; in
each case the evidence is clear to the speaker, and the future
act is seen as the culmination of a previous sequence of
events or thoughts. The future event is a projection or
extrapolation of events preceding, and up to, the point now.
Statements of the internal evidence type will frequently
begin with I; questions using this form more frequently
involve you or third person:
Im definitely not going to take the exam in summer.
Are you going to take the exam in summer?
Is he going to go to university?
Other combinations can also occur:
What on earth am I going to do about it?
You are definitely not going to borrow mine.
But of course my internal evidence tends to be about me
and questions about internal evidence are usually about
other people.

Be going to is non-modal. It does not involve the

speakers personal judgment and, in particular, nonvolitional. Events described using be going to are seen as
arising out of a process which is already in progress at the
time of speaking. This is clear from an example such as:
What do you think is going to happen next?
where the listeners opinion is sought about something
which happens independently of speaker or listener.
Will or going to?
In many situations, we can use either will or going to with
exactly the same meaning. But if we want to say that
something is very near to happening, we often prefer to use
going to:
Tomorrows weathers will be cold and rainy.
Tomorrows weathers is going to be cold and rainy.
We often use going to in warnings about imminent
dangers:
Look, wed better go. Its going to rain. (= I can see
dark clouds.)
Watch it! That pile of boxes is going to fall! (= I can see
it already tottering.)
Future expressed through Present Progressive
The Present Progressive is commonly used to refer to
future activity:
Im reading a paper to the conference next week.
This use of the progressive is very common with verbs
that indicate or imply motion:
Im meeting Jane next week.

Hes coming to visit us soon.

Theyre taking the children to the party this afternoon.
Like be going to + Infinitive, the Present Progressive
refers to a future happening anticipated in the present. But
there is a subtle difference: it is not a present intention or
cause, but rather a present arrangement that is marked by the
progressive. Thus, in such sentences the idea expressed by
the Present Progressive generally corresponds to someone
has arranged to or someone has made arrangements
to With personal subjects, this meaning is common in
affirmative sentences with the first and third persons, and
may also occur with the second person:
Im seeing a doctor this afternoon.
Mothers coming to dinner tomorrow night.
Were having fish for dinner.
Youre moving into your new house next week, arent
you?
In some cases, the construction denotes an arrangement
made by a third person:
Nancy is getting married this spring.
In negative sentences the Present Progressive may be
used to deny that certain arrangements have been made by
the subject. Such sentences are often followed by statements
about plans that have actually been made:
Im not having dinner at a Chinese restaurant tonight.
Im having dinner here.
Negative sentences with the Present Progressive may also
express refusal on the part of the speaker, indicating that the
speaker either refuses to do something or to allow someone
else to do something. In such sentences the word NOT is
usually stressed, but the contrasted forms isnt and arent are

used. This meaning of refusal is common with all the

persons:
Im not answering any more. (= I refuse)
Youre not going out in that shabby old dress. (= I wont
let you)
In interrogative sentences the Present Progressive may be
used in inquiries about arrangements (with the second and
third persons):
Are you meeting Beth on Wednesday? (= Have you
arranged to meet her?)
Is Peter starting his new course next week?
The Present Progressive is also used to refer to the future
in sentences with non-personal subjects:
Is the taxi coming in a few minutes?
In such sentences the idea of an arrangement is also
present, so that the meaning of the above example might be
paraphrased as arrangements have been made for the taxi to
come
Here, however, the meaning is very close to that of the
Present Tense used in reference to the future, and we could
hardly detect any difference in meaning between The sales
are starting on Monday and The sales starts on Monday.
It is understandable that the notion of fixed arrangement
comes to be associated with the near rather than distant
future. The element of IMMINENCE often accompanying
the future use of the Present Progressive is amply illustrated
in the examples just given, but as with be going to, the
possibility remains as referring to the more remote future if
it is regarded as determined in advance:
When I grow up, Im joining the navy.

A further point of resemblance between the Present

Progressive and the be going to future is optionality of time
adverbials. The following sentences without adverbial
modification are in fact ambiguous out of context, as they
may be given either a present (limited duration) or future
(imminent) interpretation:
Im taking Jane out for a meal.
My grandmother is coming to stay with us.
Without adverbials, a time in the near future rather than
remoter future is generally intended: the speaker could insert
the adverbial just in some of the sentences to make the
imminence explicit:
Where are you, Jim? Im just coming.
The use of the Present Progressive in this way seems to
be chiefly limited to verbs of motion and some other verbs
signifying single events. It is difficult, for example, to see
any ambiguity in Im attending evening lessons in Italian;
because of its habitual meaning, this sentence must almost
certainly refer to the present rather than the future, unless
we add a future adverbial such as next year/month, etc.
Restriction in the use of the Present Progressive
It is not always possible to use the Present Progressive to
refer to future time. Compare:
(1) *Its raining tomorrow.
(2) Im playing tennis on Saturday.
(3) ? Im watching TV tomorrow evening.
Example (1) is impossible, because we cannot arrange for
it to rain; it is determined by natural law. This contrasts with
Im seeing him tomorrow in which the arrangement of the
meeting pre-dates NOW and is seen by the speaker as an

intrinsic part of the future act. Example (2) seems quite

natural, because we know that tennis involves playing with
other people and, therefore, arrangements can be made.
Example (3), although possible, feels a little unnatural,
because television watching is not usually arranged; it is a
matter of personal deliberation. This form is less likely than
the alternative forms Im going to watch or Ill be
watching
As LEWIS (1986:141) points out
We need to think once more of the defining
characteristics of the Present Progressive. It is
used if, at the moment of speaking, the speaker
conceptualises the action as occurring between
precisely two points in time, one before and one
after the point NOW. At the moment of speaking
the speaker has in mind two points, one on either
side of NOW, between which the action, as far as
the speaker is concerned, exists.

Future expressed through Present Simple

The Present Tense describes future events or activities as
facts regarded as unalterable; that is, it attributes to the
future the same degree of certainty that we normally accord
to present or present events. When used in this way, it is
equivalent in meaning to am/is/are due to, am/is/are
scheduled to. More specifically, the Present Tense may be
used to refer to the future:
A) In statements and questions about the calendar and
natural phenomena:
Tomorrow is Sunday.
Next Christmas falls on a Thursday.
When does Easter fall this year?

B) In connection with activities or events regarded as

part of fixed timetable or a settled program,
especially journeys and some other planned activities
and organized events:
We start for New York tomorrow night.
The concert begins at nine.
Our term starts at the beginning of September.
Exams begin on Monday.
The progressive is used for simple futurity to indicate a
prediction or in the case of activity by the speaker an
intention. The non-progressive (Simple Present),
however, indicates that the activity is in some way
scheduled: that there is a fixed decision or plan. This
accounts for the difference between:
Im starting work next week.
I start work next week.
The first sentence suggests that the speaker now expects
or intends to start work, whereas the second indicates that
tomorrow is the time fixed for him to start (by his firm or by
some other external circumstances). It is for such reasons
that we would normally expect the first but not the second
of:
Examinations start next week.
Examinations are starting next week.
The non-progressive future use is common with verbs
such as start, begin, finish, end, etc, simply because
beginnings and ends of activities are often scheduled.
Shall/will + Progressive Infinitive
Unlike will/shall + Infinitive, which often denotes an
attitude on the part of the speaker or the subject, this

construction is free from modal implications. However, the

restrictions on the use of shall apply here.
The construction will/shall + Progressive, according to
the general rules for the use of Progressive Aspect, can refer
to temporary situations in the future:
This time next week I will/shall be lying on the beach.
He will be shopping at eight oclock.
The construction may also be used with all persons to
refer to what will happen in the normal course of events. It
is used in this way with both personal and non-personal
subjects. Since no element of volition or intention is
associated with this construction, it is a very useful way of
expressing a neutral future, especially in sentences with
personal subjects denoting voluntary actions:
I will/shall be writing to her later.
You will be doing geometry next term.
Hurry up! The train will be leaving in a minute.
When will you be moving to your new house?
The construction may also be used to indicate a future
period of time within which another situation occurs:
When you reach the end of the street, Ill be waiting there
to show you the way.
As LEECH (1971:63) points out, one reason why
will/shall + Progressive usage has become quite common in
everyday speech is that it is often a more polite and tactful
alternative to non-progressive form. According to the writer
a sentence like Ill drive into London next week could
easily precede the offer Can I give you a lift?, for it would
foretell any awkward feeling of indebtedness on the
listeners part: I shall be making the journey any way, so
dont feel you would cause me any trouble. Similarly, a

sentence like Ill be driving into London next week

expresses polite interest in the future theoretical program,
while avoiding any suggestion of putting pressure on the
person questioned.
Be (about) to + Infinitive5
The construction be to + Infinitive may be used to refer to
future events that are predicted to take place as a result of a
command given by a third person. The construction is used
with all three persons, in affirmative and negative sentences,
to give orders, to convey instructions, and to express
prohibitions:
Im to phone them once I reach the airport. (= Ive
received orders to)
Youre to report to the police. (= You must report)
John is not to be here at ten.
Occasionally the construction denotes an order given by
the speaker himself:
You are to stay here till I return.
In interrogative sentences, the construction is used with
first and second person subjects to ask for instructions:
When am I to meet them?
What is he to do next?
Be to + Infinitive is also used to indicate future
happenings already determined by an arrangement
made in the present, or which are part of a program
decided on by the third person, but it may also denote
plan made by the subject of the sentence. Thus, the
sentence
We are to meet at nine oclock

may mean, according to the context, arrangements have

been made for us to meet or we have arranged to meet.
Be to + Infinitive with the interpretation plan for the
future is characteristic of newspaper report, and in
headlines, the construction is abbreviated to to + infinitive
through the ellipsis of the form of the verb to be:
QUEEN TO VISIT CHINA.
Temporal specification
The constructions will/shall + infinitive, be going to +
infinitive and be to + infinitive may occur with or without
time expression:
I shall write to you again at the end of the month.
Shell invite seven other people.
Im going to buy a new car soon.
Dont worry. Im going to talk to him about that.
Mr. Miller is to be promoted soon.
We are to wait for them at the airport.
Since the Present Progressive may refer either to the
present or to the future, a time adverbial is usually needed to
make clear the time of the reference:
Hes presenting the report now. (Present reference)
Hes presenting the report in a weeks time. (Future
reference)
This means that as a rule the Present Progressive is used
with a time expression in sentences in which it refers to the
future:
Mons calling tonight.
Im meeting them at the station at ten.

The Present Tense requires an adverbial of time when it

refers to the future, unless it occurs in a narrative sequence
and some definite point of time in the future is implied, as in
I leave Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, arrive in London on
Friday, take a taxi to my hotel, and have a business
meeting at twelve.
Will/shall + Progressive Infinitive requires specification
of time or duration when it is used to refer to temporary
situation in the future:
Ill be waiting for you at the hotel at ten a.m. tomorrow.
They will be traveling all night.
When the construction refers to what will happen in the
normal course of events, it may occur with or without a time
expression:
Hell be catching the nine-oclock train.
They will be arriving here tomorrow morning.
Conclusion
Since English has no one verb form uniquely, or even
particularly, associated with Future Time, the choice of verb
form for particular events in Future Time is complex.
In fact, in the absence of an inflectional tense, there are
several possibilities for expressing future time in English.
Future time as, we have seen, is expressed by means of
modal auxiliaries (WILL and SHALL), modal idioms or
semi-auxiliaries (BE GOING TO, BE TO), or by the simple
present and progressive forms.
One important distinguishing feature, however, is the
moment of decision in relation to NOW and the certainty of
arrangements and the attitudes held at the moment of
speaking.

Notes:

Mestre em Lngua Inglesa (UFF). Professor Assistente de Lngua Inglesa

no IAP/UERJ. Professor de Metodologia e Prtica de Ensino de Lngua
Inglesa no Curso de Graduao da UERJ. Professor de Ingls Instrumental
na UNESA Universidade Estcio de S.
2
Time is a universal, non-linguistic concept with three divisions: past,
present, and future. In abstraction from any given language, we can think of
time as a line on which is located, as continuing moving point, the present
moment. Anything ahead of the present moment is in the future, and
anything behind it is in the past:
THE PRESENT MOMENT

FUTURE
----------------------------------------------

PAST

[NOW]
Tense is the relationship between the form of verb and the time of the action
or state it describes. In English, verbs may be in the PAST or PRESENT
TENSE.
3
Futurity is often indicated by modals other than will/shall: The weather
may improve (tomorrow); You must visit us (soon). It is also indicated by
semi-auxiliaries such as be sure to, be bound to, be likely to, and by lexical
verbs such as hope, intend, plan.
4
Will is the usual future form in American English: I will send the
information tomorrow. Will you be home for dinner?
5
Be about to is like be going to, but can only be used to talk about events
which will happen very soon indeed:
Will you go shopping with me?
Sorry. Im about to wash my hair.

References
AIRKEN, Rosemary. Teaching Tenses: Ideas for presenting
and practicing tenses in English. Walton-on-Thames: Nelson,
1992.
COMRIE, Bernard. Tense. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1985.

FOWLER, H. W. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage.

Second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1965.
LEECH, Geoffrey. Meaning and the English Verb. Harlow:
Longman, 1971.
LEWIS, Michael. The English Verb: An exploration of
structure and meaning. London: Language Teaching
Publications, 1986.
PALMER, F. R. The English Verb. London: Longman, 1974.
QUIRK, Randolph et al. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English
Language. Harlow: Longman, 1985.
WARD, John Millington. The Use of Tenses in English. Second edition.
London: Longman, 1966.