Look at these examples to see how will, going to and the present continuous are used.
Oh great! That meeting after work's been cancelled. I'll go to that yoga class instead.
I'm going to try to visit my relatives in Australia this year.
The restaurant is reserved for 8. We're having a drink at Beale's first.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Grammar explanation
We use different verb forms to talk about our plans for the future, depending on what kind of plan it is: a spontaneous plan, a pre-decided plan or an arrangement.
will
We use will to talk about spontaneous plans decided at the moment of speaking.
Oops, I forgot to phone Mum! I'll do it after dinner.
I can't decide what to wear tonight. I know! I'll wear my green shirt.
There's no milk. I'll buy some when I go to the shops.
going to
We use going to to talk about plans decided before the moment of speaking.
I'm going to phone Mum after dinner. I told her I'd call at 8 o'clock.
I'm going to wear my black dress tonight.
I'm going to go to the supermarket after work. What do we need?
Present continuous
We usually use the present continuous when the plan is an arrangement – already confirmed with at least one other person and we know the time and place.
I'm meeting Jane at 8 o'clock on Saturday.
We're having a party next Saturday. Would you like to come?
We often use the present continuous to ask about people's future plans.
Are you doing anything interesting this weekend?
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello Zuzanna,
I imagine that the person who wrote that sentence is using 'will' to express certainty about the result of making noise. You could also think of the situation as an implied first conditional ('If you make noise, you will wake them up'), which would also help explain the use of 'will' here.
I would probably say 'will' here too (for the reasons I explained above), but I don't think it would be wrong to use 'be going to'.
As you can see, the speaker's perspective on the situation is really important!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Htoo Sandi Soe Moe,
First of all, we would say 'this weekend' (without the 's').
As far as the verb form goes, both are possible. Going to describes an intention (in your head) while the present continuous (are doing) suggests an arrangement which is more fixed.
I think if you are only talking about your plan then going to is the best choice. If you have already taken steps arranging somethign then the present continuous is more likely:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Htoo Sandi Soe Moe,
Both sentences are grammatically correct.
We use will usually when we think the person does not have any idea and we are asking them to decide or guess right now, rather than about what plans they have.
You might say this if, for example, something has happened and you need to make a decision:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Anisha00329,
Yes, there are a lot of ways to refer to the future :) Let me try to explain.
As you can see, some meanings are similar. In real language use, there are usually several possible ways to say something, and not just a single correct answer. The option we choose depends on how we want to represent the action (e.g. as a fact, a scheduled event, an organised event that people know about, etc.). So, it usually depends a lot on the context in which we are speaking or writing.
For more about the meanings in 1 and 5, have a look at the examples above on this page. For more about sentence 2, see the section titled Present simple and future time here. For more about the future continuous (sentence 6), see this page.
I hope that helps to make sense of the second set of examples too.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team