EXPRESSING A FUTURE

ACTION
“BE GOING TO”
 EXPRESSING A FUTURE ACTION
USING “BE GOING TO”
• BE GOING TO adalah phrasal modal verb yang digunakan untuk membicarakan masa
depan (future).

• Be dapat berupa is, are, atau am dan sering disingkat. Is digunakan pada subject

berupa singular noun (seperti: Adam, Clara) dan third person singular pronoun (seperti: she,
he, it); are pada plural noun (seperti: boys, women), plural pronoun (seperti: we, they)
dan you; sementara am pada I. Seperti modal verb lainnya, be going to diikuti bentuk dasar
dari kata kerja (bare infinitive).
 WHEN TO USE “GOING TO” 

GOING TO is used when the action was already decided on even before speaking of it.

• Examples: 
• “I’m going to take some time off work this year.” 
• “They are going to adopt a child.” 
• “He’s going to quit his job and become an artist.” 
• Going to can also be used for a future action when there are signs or
evidence that it is likely going to happen. 

• Examples: 
• “They’ve been together forever. He’s going to propose soon.” 
• “This team is playing so bad today. They’re going to lose!” 
• “I shouldn’t have eaten that much! I’m gonna throw up!”

• The condensed form of going to is gonna. And it’s worth practicing this in your
conversations to sound more natural. Stick with “going to” in more formal communication,
though.
 USE FOR A FUTURE ACTION THAT WILL HAPPEN SOON
• One important detail about “GOING TO” is that it is most often used to discuss things or
situations that might happen soon. The expression “GOING TO” is used in the following
situations:
• Definite plans
• “I am going to help you with your English!”
• Immediate actions
• “She’s gonna eat lunch with my friend tomorrow.” 
• Actions that will happen soon –
• “He’s going to be a doctor next year!” 
• Anticipation
• “Are you going to download our free Ebook?”
• Predicting a future action
• “The weather is going to be very cold today.” 
 NOTE:
• Be going to biasa digunakan untuk membicarakan rencana masa depan dimana keputusan
tentang rencana tersebut telah dibuat sebelum dikatakan (intention). Selain itu be going
to dapat pula untuk memprediksi sesuatu yang kita pikir pasti terjadi atau kita mempunyai
bukti atau petunjuk (evidence) pada saat ini.
• Selain untuk membicarakan masa depan, be going to dapat pula untuk membicarakan masa
lalu. Was/were going to digunakan mengungkapkan rencana yang tidak terlaksana
(unfulfilled intentions).