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
I have a question regarding (will and going to) I know that we use will for instant decision and going to for decision planned already. But here in my English book, there is a text (email) that uses will in a confusing way:
Dear Sandy,
I hope you're doing well! I’m so excited about my upcoming trip to Japan.
Tomorrow we will see Mount Fuji, one of the most famous landmarks in Japan. Then, it’s Kyoto, and we will stay there for one night. My parents have already booked a hotel in the city. Then, we will hire a car to explore Osaka. My mother wanted to go to Hokkaido, but it’s too far.
I’m going home next week. I will call you when I get back! We will show you all the beautiful photos we took. You will not believe how amazing everything looks!
See you soon,
[Sara]
This is a plan, right? So why it uses will instead of going to
Hello AboodKh9,
I imagine it's because the author of the book wanted to demonstrate examples of sentences with 'will' and therefore wrote the text for this purpose. It does not strike me as a particularly natural example of language but this is really a question for the author of the text, not for us.
Please post questions once only. Sometimes there is a short delay between a question being sent, being published and being replied to. We are a small team here with limited time available but posting the same question more than once only slows the process down.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
I am sorry for that, and I appreciate your efforts and time.
The purpose of the author and he stated that we use (will) for future plans. So; I am confused about that because it's known that the plans which arranged before take (be going to) not will. This is a trip and order of arranged events will take place in future. So why will? It's wrong use here?
Thank you in advance, and again I am really sorry!
Hello again AboodKh9,
As I said, it does not strike me as a particularly natural example. We would be more likely to use going to, as you say, for intentions and plans or the present continuous for arrangements (more concrete plans). We also tend to avoid repeating a single form, such as will, again and again for stylistic reasons. Will has a range of uses that could be relevant here such as predicting or expressing belief but they do not seem particularly well suited to the context.
I don't think I can say too much more as I don't know the book or the author's intentions.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello! Can you tell me what future tense to use in the following sentence: My friend _______(start) his job soon. The sentence is out of context.
Hello xena the warrior,
Without any more context a whole range of forms are possible, including starts, is going to start, is starting, is to start, will start, might start, could start and more. There is no obvious correct answer.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello dear teachers🖐
Have two questions...
Can we use another verbs in the place of 'said' in the structure('be said to + verb')?
Is this structure('be to+verb') used for future only?
Thanks!
Hello jassa,
Many verbs can be used in place of said in this construction. Some of the most common are believed, thought, claimed and expected.
The structure be + to verb has a future meaning, though it can be future in the past: He was to go there, but we changed our plans.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Many thanks dear teacher.It really helps me to learn more but I don't understand about "the future in the past" as you wrote 🤔
He was to go there but we changed our plans.(here the speaker is talking about the past time, not future)
Please make this more clear.
Thanks
Hello jassa,
You can find information on this topic here:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/talking-about-past
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team