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
Thank you so much for the clarification 🙏
One another question please-
"I can't attend the meeting tomorrow"
(Here 'can't' is used to talk about the future time)
Can we use 'can' for talking about the future?
Thanks
Hello jassa,
Yes, we can. In fact, modal verbs in general are often used to talk about the future and 'can' is no exception.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks dear teacher.
Can you please give some examples of 'can' for future?
Thanks.
Hello jassa,
Here are some examples:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you very much dear teacher.
Hello again dear teacher Peter🖐
Have 3 questions regarding those forms:
1.In forms('Be said to+verb' and 'Be to+verb'),do we use only the infinitive verb after 'be said' & 'be to'?
2.Can you please give some sentence examples of "Be said to+verb" about past, present and future and examples of "Be to+verb"?
3.Can we use the verb 'be' in sentences with those form? (Like-" Our team is said to be no.1.)
Thanks
Hello jassa,
1 - An infinitive form is used, but it could be various kinds of infinitive. For example:
The books is said to be kept in the Vatican. [passive infinitive]
She is said to be working there. [continuous infinitive]
She is said to have worked there. [perfect infinitive]
2 - To refer to opinions at different times you can change the form of the verb 'said':
She was said to be a genius.
She is said to be a genius.
She will be said to be a genius.
To refer to claims about different times you can change the form of the infinitive:
She is said to have been a wonderful child.
She is believed to be a genius.
You could use a going to form for future intentions (said to be going to be) but this is rather clumsy stylistically so we generally just use a continuous infinitive with future meaning:
She is said to be moving into politics in the future.
3 - Yes, you can.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you very much dear teacher🙏
A little clarification. In response to my second question, you wrote-
"2 - To refer to opinions at different times you can change the form of the verb 'said':"
I think you had to write 'be' in place of 'said', right? Maybe you typed that by mistake.
Because we change the form of 'be' to refer to different times...
And one more question:
Can you describe infinitive and different types of infinitive? Or any article about this on your website?
Thanks
Hello again jassa,
A little clarification. In response to my second question, you wrote-
"2 - To refer to opinions at different times you can change the form of the verb 'said':"
I think you had to write 'be' in place of 'said', right? Maybe you typed that by mistake.
'Said' here is part of a passive construction. Obviously, to change the tense you change 'be' but the main verb remains 'said'.
You can see various forms of the infinitive here:
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinitive
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you dear teacher 🙏
I will learn about that👍