The future

tenses
K. Verstappen
 There are lots of tenses that can express a future meaning.

Name the tenses in these examples.

• I'll promise to be good next time. Simple future

• 2. The plane leaves at 7 pm tomorrow. Simple present

• 3. Little Mikey is going to be a doctor one day. Going to + inf.

• 4. I am seeing my dentist at 5. Present continuous

• 5. This time next year I'll be living in France. Future continuous

• 6. By the year 2040 I will have retired. Future perfect
• 7. By the year 2060 people will have been travelling to the
moon for decades.
Future perfect continuous
 The simple future
• 1. I’ll be 18 next week.
• 2. Boys will be boys.
• 3. He won’t come next week, he needs t work
= prediction, a fact in the future
• 4. I’ll promise to be good next time.
= promise
• 5. I will call you before I leave.

• 6. (When the door bell rings): I’ll get to the door.

=Instant decision, spontaneous reaction, ‘on
the spot’
 The simple present
1. The plane leaves at 7 pm tomorrow.
2. The film starts at 8.30 pm, so let’s hurry.
3. Does your train arrive tomorrow at 11 am at platform 2?

For timetables, hour schedules .

For example: arrival & departure of public transport, start & end of shows, sport matches etc.
There is NO other tense correct here, only simple present!
 Going to + infinitive
1. Little Mikey is going to be a doctor one day.
2. I’m going to learn Spanish next year.
= an intention, a personal ‘plan’
But there’s no guarantee this intention or plan will be fulfilled.
Mikey might have changed his mind once he’s grown-up.
I might learn Italian instead of Spanish.

3. I think it’s going to rain, look at the sky!

= a personal opinion, mostly based on some evidence

‘ I think’ darker sky

You might be wrong after all, you’re no expert so it’s your

personal idea.
 The present continuous
1. I am seeing my dentist at 5 o’clock.
2. We’re leaving for London next Friday.
3. Anne and Robin are playing tennis tonight.
4. We’re having dinner at The Jane this evening.

= fixed arrangement in the near future, appointment

for example: doctor’s appointments, bookings at restaurants & transport with
booked tickets, fixed arrangements with friends
 What’s the different meaning? Can you tell?
•1. We ‘re leaving for Rome next Friday.

1. Fixed plan, you have your tickets & flight is arranged for next Friday with a flight number.

•2. We ‘re going to leave for Rome next Friday.

2. Intention, you are still thinking about is but nothing is fixed yet.
•3. We’ll leave for Rome next Friday.

3. Prediction, something that will happen in the future. For example:

all has been arranged (tickets bought, suitcases packed etc.
 So far: a little quiz

• Click on the link (or copy it) for a learning app on the theory
seen so far in the previous slides.

• = fill in exercise with key

• https://learningapps.org/watch?v=p1m1kirga20
 Back to the beginning: other ‘will’ futures

• 5. This time next year I'll be living in France.

• 6. By the year 2040 I will have retired.

• 7. By the year 2060 people will have been travelling to the

moon for decades.
Do you still remember the name of these tenses?
Translate these sentences into Dutch: what future tense do you use then?
 Future continuous
• 1. This time next year I will be living in France. I’m really
looking forward to it.

• 2. I won’t be mixing the cocktails when my guests arrive. I’d

rather wait until they have settled down.

• 3. Suri will be watching TV when I come home from work.

For an action in progress in the future, the action will be going on at a moment
in the future.
 Future perfect & Future perfect continuous
• 1. By the year 2030 I won’t have retired yet.
• 2. We all hope the lockdown will have finished soon.

• 3. By the year 2060 people will have been travelling to the moon
for decades.
• 4. By 6 pm we’ll have been playing Monopoly for three full
hours.
Both tenses: an action that will be finished before a certain point in the future
(for example: by the year 2030, soon, by 6 pm)
At the moment of speaking you ‘predict’ when an action that still needs to
happen, will be over. (you look back from the future)
 Future perfect & Future perfect continuous
• By the year 2030 I won’t have retired yet.
Tegen het jaar 2030 zal ik nog niet met pensioen gegaan zijn.
= future perfect

At the moment of speaking you are still doing your job and you have quite some years
to work.
• By 6 pm we’ll have been playing Monopoly for three full
hours.
Tegen (om) 6 uur zullen we gedurende 3 uur aan het spelen geweest zijn.
• = future perfect continuous  for three full hours : stressing the duration
At the moment of speaking it’s not 6 pm yet and you’re still playing.
 So far so good: another exercise

• Click on the link for an exercise on the previous theory:

• https://learningapps.org/watch?v=pegrgovp520
 Time to practise: mixed future tenses

• Double click to open the word document (in slide 14) and do the
exercise: mixed tenses (all powerpoint theory)

• Have a look at the tips and signal words at the left column.

• The key will be available on the final slide.

Microsoft Word
97 - 2003 Document
 Homework
• Double click on the logo to open this word document. (do this in
slide 15)
• Type your answers and save your work.
• Fill in your name on top.
• Upload your work in your SS course. (Engl. Upload zone)
• Send your work to your teacher: upload zone
• (deadline will be agreed on per class)

Microsoft
Word-document
 Key of mixed exercise

• Double click for the correction key of the exercise of slide 12

(double click in slide 16)

Microsoft Word
97 - 2003-document
 The end
• If you’ve got any questions: contact your teacher.

• Extra exercises on future tenses:

- remedial exercises on SS
- or: https://www.english-4u.de/en/tenses-exercises/future.htm

- More on the internet!