Expressing Future

There are several ways to express future time in English.

I.- TO BE GOING TO (“Going to “ future)

II.- SIMPLE FUTURE ( “Will” future)
III.- PRESENT CONTINUOUS.
IV.- SIMPLE PRESENT.

I.- “GOING TO” Future: ( Voy a + infinitivo)

a) FORM:

Positive Subject + am/ is /are + going to + base form + Compl.

Negative Subject + am/is/are not + going to + base form +
Complements.
Yes/No Questions Am / Is / Are + Subject+ going to + base form +
Complements + ?
Short Answers Yes, I am/ he, she, it is/ we, you , they are.
No, I’m not / he, she, it isn’t/ we, you, they aren’t.
Wh- questions ( non- subject) Wh- word + am / is/ are+ Subject + going to+ base form
+ Complements + ?
Wh-questions (subject) Wh- word ( Who / What) + is/ are + going to+ base
form + Complements +?

b) USE:
- We use “going
to” future to talk about FUTURE PLANS decided
before speaking ( PREVIOUSLY ARRANGED PLANS).
Ex: I am going to watch a film on TV tonight.

-We also use “going to” future to MAKE PREDICTIONS. There is

normally something at the moment of speaking that makes the speaker be sure
about what is going to happen.

Ex: Look at those black clouds! It’s going to rain.

I feel terrible. I’m going to be sick.

II.- “WILL” Future ( Simple Future):

a) FORM:

Positive Subject + will + base form + Complements.

Negative Subject + will not ( won’t) + base form + Compl.
Yes/ No questions Will + Subject + base form + Complements +?
Short answers Yes, I / you/ he… will - No, I/ you/ she… won’t.
Wh- questions ( non- subject) Wh- word + will+ S + base form + Complem. +?
Wh- questions ( subject) Wh-word ( Who/ What) + will+ base form + C+?

b) USE:

- We use “Will future” to express FUTURE PLANS. The decision is

made at the moment of speaking.

Ex: Oh!, I’ve left the door open. I’ll go and shut it.

- We also use “Will future” to MAKE PREDICTIONS.

Ex: I will travel around the world when I am older.

* We also use “Will” in these situations:

In OFFERINGS. This bag looks heavy. I’ll help you with it.
To ACCEPT or REJECT I’ve asked John to help me but he won’t do
something. it.
To PROMISE something.. I won’t tell Jack what you said, I promise.
To ASK SOMEBODY TO DO Will you please be quiet? I’m trying to
SOMETHING. concentrate.
With: PROBABLY I’ll probably be a bit late tonight.
(I’M) SURE You must meet Ann. I’m sure you’ll like her.
(I) EXPECT I expect Carol will get the job.
(I) THINK Do you think Real Madrid will win the
League?

Note: When the subject is I / WE, we can use WILL/SHALL,

but SHALL is mainly used in questions with I/WE when we
MAKE OFFERINGS or SUGGESTIONS.

Ex: Shall I open the window?

Where shall we go this evening?

III.- PRESENT CONTINUOUS. (Voy a + infinitivo)

USE:
- We use PRESENT CONTINUOUS to express future time to refer to
FUTURE PLANS PREVIOUSLY ARRANGED.
We always need a FUTURE TIME EXPRESSION.
Ex: What are you doing tomorrow evening?
I’m going to the theatre.

Note: We prefer to use PRESENT CONTINUOUS instead of

GOING TO FUTURE when the main verb is “GO” to avoid
repetition:

So: What are you going to do tomorrow evening?

I’m going to the theatre (better than I’m going to go to the
theatre).

IV.- SIMPLE PRESENT.

We use SIMPLE PRESENT to express FUTURE TIME when we talk

about: TRAIN/BUS TIMETABLES, TV/RADIO
PROGRAMMES, etc.
* The subject is not a person.

Ex:
- What time does the film begin tonight?
- The train to Madrid leaves Málaga at 10:00 a. m. and arrives in Madrid at 12:30
p.m.