BE GOING TO

Use:
Use be going to to talk about your personal plans for the future.
I’m going to see my sister at the weekend.
Are you going to marry Paul?

Form:
1) The form of the positive and negative sentences and questions is shown below.
Positive
am / ‘m
I
you are / ‘re going to verb (infinitive form)

he / she / it is / ‘s
we are / ‘re

they are / ‘re

Negative

‘m not
I
you aren’t OR ‘re not going to verb (infinitive form)

he / she / it isn’t OR ‘s not

we aren’t OR ‘re not

they aren’t OR ‘re not

Questions
I
Am
going to verb (infinitive form) ?
Are You

Is he / she / it

Are We

Are They

2) The short reply to a ‘be going to’ question is ‘Yes, I am’, ‘Yes, she is’ etc. You cannot
contract these short sentences.
Yes, he’s. => Yes, he is.
The short negative replies are:
No, I’m not.
No, you’re not / No, you aren’t.
No, he’s not / No he isn’t. No, she’s not / No she isn’t. No, it’s not / no it isn’t.
No, we’re not / No, we aren’t.
No, they’re not / No, they aren’t.
Common mistakes:
1) Some students forget to add the verb ’be’ before ‘going to’.
I going to see my friends tonight. => I’m going to see my friends tonight.
2) Some students forget to invert the subject and be in questions.

What time you are going to leave? => What time are you going to leave?