ENGLISH GRAMMAR 4º (May, 29th)
FUTURE TIME
We are going to
review the different ways of expressing Future
Time in English and the form and use differences between them.
A.-We can make FUTURE
PREDICTIONS to express what we think will happen in the future.
-We use ‘will+infinitive’
if we simple express our opinion, make a promise or an offer.
For
example: imagine that you look at the sky and it is all blue without a cloud on
it. However, you say ‘I think it will rain’, you use ‘will’ because you are
stating your opinion.
-We use ‘be going to
+ infinitive’ if we make a prediction based on
present evidence, that is, you see something that makes you predict
something is going to happen in the future.
For
example: imagine that you look at the sky and it’s all covered with black
clouds and you say ‘ It is going to rain’, you use ‘be going to’ because after
seeing the black clouds, you can make a more or less ‘sure’ prediction.
B.-We can talk about FUTURE
ACTIONS.
-We use ‘will+
infinitive’ to talk about a spontaneous action, that is, an action we have not
planned to do, something that we decide to make as we are speaking.
For
example: imagine you are watching T.v and your little sister asks you to help
her with her homework. Obviously, you haven’t planned to help your sister, so
you would answer ‘OK , I will help you’ or ‘No, I won’t’ , using ‘will’ because
you make the decision in that same moment.
-We use ‘be going to
+ infinitive’ to talk about planned future actions.
For
example : Imagine your birthday is next Saturday and you have invited all your
friends to a fast food restaurant to celebrate it. You would say ‘We are going
to celebrate my birthday in McDonal’s next Saturday’, using ‘be going to’
because it’s a planned action (choosing and booking the restaurant, the date,
the people coming, the time …)
-We use ‘Present
Continuous’ to talk about a planned action in the near future.
For
example: Imaging that you have an English exam tomorrow and you have arranged
to meet your friends in the library this evening to review for it together. You
would say: ‘I’m meeting my friends this evening’.
You must
remember that both ‘be going to+infinitive’ and ‘Present Continuous’ are used
to talk about a future planned action.The difference between the stands on HOW NEAR THAT FUTURE IS, that
is,‘Tonight’ is closer than ‘next month’ and therefore, you would say : ‘I’m
phoning my friend tonight’ and ‘I’m going to travel to Belfast next month’.
-We use the ‘Present
Simple’ with future meaning to mainly talk about timetables.
For
example: imagine you are travelling to León by train tomorrow at 18.30. You
would say: ‘MY train leaves at 18:00’ because , although it may be late, the
time is fixed (planned).
ACTIVITIES
1.-Copy the following chart in your notebook.
2.-Click on the links below to practice the difference between Be Going
To + INF / Will + INF.
3.-Click on the following link to practice the different future forms.
