Hello!
I'm a bit confused about the last question in the task 2.
The correct answer is "I'm really busy tomorrow". It's clear and I'm fine with that.
But can you explain, if the answer "I'll be busy tomorrow" is possible too?
Or the rule is strict - when we have "be+adjective", we alweys use "I'm" instead of "I'll be" when we make predictions?
When we use the present tense in 'I'm busy tomorrow', it's as if we're revising our schedule for the next day in our heads and can see that we have commitments all day long. So it's as if the verb were the present continuous, which we use to speak about future arrangements. In this case, the verb is not continuous, because we don't typically use 'be' in the present continuous.
It's also possible to say 'I'll be busy tomorrow', but the perspective it implies we have is different. It could be, as you suggest, a prediction, or it could also be part of a first conditional statement in which the conditional part of the statement is unstated, e.g. 'If it rains tomorrow, I'll be busy' -- if you don't say 'If it rains' because this idea has already been mentioned, it would make sense to use 'will' in 'I'll be busy'.
Hello Yshc,
When we use the present tense in 'I'm busy tomorrow', it's as if we're revising our schedule for the next day in our heads and can see that we have commitments all day long. So it's as if the verb were the present continuous, which we use to speak about future arrangements. In this case, the verb is not continuous, because we don't typically use 'be' in the present continuous.
It's also possible to say 'I'll be busy tomorrow', but the perspective it implies we have is different. It could be, as you suggest, a prediction, or it could also be part of a first conditional statement in which the conditional part of the statement is unstated, e.g. 'If it rains tomorrow, I'll be busy' -- if you don't say 'If it rains' because this idea has already been mentioned, it would make sense to use 'will' in 'I'll be busy'.
Does that make sense?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team