FUTURE

There are a number of different ways of referring to the future in English. It is important to remember that we are
expressing more than simply the time of the action or event. Obviously, any 'future' tense will always refer to a time
'later than now', but it may also express our attitude to the future event.

All of the following ideas can be expressed using different tenses:

Simple prediction: There will be snow in many areas tomorrow.

Arrangements: I'm meeting Jim at the airport.

Plans and intentions: We're going to spend the summer abroad.

Time-tabled events: The plane takes off at 3 a.m.

Prediction based on present evidence: I think it's going to rain!

Willingness: We'll give you a lift to the cinema.

An action in progress in the future: This time next week I'll be sun-bathing.

An action or event that is a matter of routine: You'll be seeing John in the office tomorrow, won't you?

Obligation: You are to travel directly to London.

An action or event that will take place immediately or very soon: The train is about to leave.

Projecting ourselves into the future and looking back at a completed action: A month from now he will have
finished all his exams.

It is clear from these examples that several tenses are used to express the future. The future tense section shows the
form and function of each of these uses of future tenses.

There are four future verb tenses in English.

 Simple future tense

 Future continuous tense
 Future perfect tense
 Future perfect continuous tense

There are also several other ways to talk about the future without using a future verb tense.

 Using the present continuous to talk about future arrangements

 Using the simple present to talk about scheduled events
 Using "going" to talk about the future
 Future obligations
 The immediate future
Future Simple: Will + Base Form of the Verb
This form is used to:

Describe a simple action in the future:

1. She‘ll write the e-mail after lunch.

2. Alice won’t help us decorate for the party.
Make a prediction or give a warning:

1. Don’t lift that. You‘ll hurt yourself

2. If you don’t finish the bid, the boss won’t give you a raise.
Make a spontaneous decision:

1. You dropped your purse. I‘ll get it.

 Wh- Questions in the Future Simple

Wh- questions are questions that require more information in their answers. Typical wh- words are what, where,
when, why, who, how, how many, how much.

To form a Wh-question use: Wh-word + will (or won’t) + subject + base form of the verb.

1. When will he give you an answer?

2. Why won’t you tell him the truth?

Future – Be Going To
We usually use am, is or are + going to + the base form of the verb to talk about actions in the future that have
already been decided on.

1. Dan‘s going to take the order over to the customer.

2. The girls are going to sing ‘Amazing Grace’ now.
3. They aren’t going to buy the house.
4. I am not going to make dinner tonight. We’re going out to a restaurant.

 Wh-Questions – Be Going To

Wh- questions are questions that require more information in their answers. Typical wh- words are what, where,
when, which, why, who, how, how many, how much.
 To create a wh-question, start with the wh-word, then add am, is or are, then the subject (a person or thing that
will be doing the action), going to and the base form of the verb.

1. How much is the computer going to cost?

2. Why aren’t you going to buy that car?

Future: Shall
Shall is used with the subjects I and we to make suggestions or to offer to do something for someone. It is
always used in the form of a question.

1. Shall we go for a walk?
2. Shall I help you with that?
The use of shall to mean will is formal English and is not commonly used today.

Future Progressive (Continuous) – will + be + verbing

Verbing (Present Participle)

 Add ing to most verbs. Ex. play > playing, cry > crying, bark > barking
 For verbs that end in e, remove the e and add ing. Ex: slide > sliding, ride > riding
 For verbs that end in ie, change the ie to y and add ing. Ex: die > dying, tie > tying
 For a verb whose last syllable is written with a consonant-vowel-consonant and is stressed, double the last letter
before adding ing. Ex: beg > begging, begin > beginning. However: enter > entering(last syllable is not
stressed)
We use will/wont + be + verbing (present participle) when we know that an action will be in progress at some
time in the future or to describe something that has been pre-arranged.

1. Don’t phone me before 12:00. I will be meeting with a client.

2. You can take my car tomorrow. I won’t be using it.
3. This time next year, we will be living in our new home.

 Wh-Questions in the Future Progressive (Continuous)

Wh- questions are questions that require more information in their answers. Typical wh- words are what, where,
when, which, why, who, how,
To create a wh-question, start with the wh-word, then will +the subject (a person or thing that is doing the
action), followed by be + the ing ( present participle) form of the verb.

1. Where will he be waiting for me?

2. How will you be travelling to the exhibition?

Some Wh-questions have a different word order:

1. How many contestants will be attempting to win the prize?

2. Which runners will be running the race?

Present Simple and Present Progressive with Future

Meaning
The present simple tense may be used to express the future in order to talk about plans in the near future.

1. Her bus leaves at 6:00 Tuesday morning.

The present progressive tense may be used to express the future especially when you want to talk about plans
arranged in advance. It is common to use it with verbs of movement.

1. I’m turning in my History assignment tomorrow morning.

 Tag Questions in the Future Tense

Tag questions are those short questions that are tagged onto the end of a sentence. They are used just to make
sure the person you’re talking to understood what you meant or to emphasize what you said.

They’re formed by using a positive sentence in the future tense forms and adding an appropriate auxiliary
(helping) and a pronoun (I, you, we, they, he, she, it) and a question mark.

1. John will call her tomorrow, won’t he?

2. All those girls will be sitting quietly, won’t they?
3. You’re coming over tonight, aren’t you?
4. That bee is going to sting me, isn’t it?
You may also add a positive tag when you’re using a negative sentence.

1. Carey won’t report me, will she?

2. The kids aren’t going to play soccer tomorrow, are they?
3. You’re not working tomorrow, are you?
As a rule: When the sentence is positive, the tag is negative.
When the sentence is negative, the tag is positive.