Back to: Scheduling
Use will for future facts, personal predictions and spontaneous decisions taken at the moment of speech.
- Future facts and personal predictions
The internship will last for three weeks.
Remy will find a new job soon, I’m sure! - Spontaneous decisions and promises
You look busy; I will help you!
| Affirmative form | Negative form | Question form | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I / You | will work | will not work | Will I / it / they work? |
| He / She / It | |||
| We / You / They |
Use be going to for future facts and decisions taken before the moment of speech.
- Future facts and predictions
The internship is going to last for three weeks.
Remy is going to get a new job soon; he has just passed a very successful interview. - Planned actions and decisions
I am going to travel to Europe next summer.
| Affirmative form | Negative form | Question form | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | am | going to work | am not | going to work | Am I | going to work |
| You | are | are not | Are you | |||
| He / she / it | is | is not | Is he / shr / it | |||
| We / you / they | are | are not | Are we / you / they | |||
Other future forms
The simple present and present progressive can also be used to refer to the future. They indicate a high degree of certainty of something happening in the future.
The present progressive expresses actions and events that have not only been planned, but also arranged.
We are having dinner with Kate and William tomorrow evening. We booked a table at an expensive restaurant.
The simple present expresses timetable events that take place at a confirmed, specific moment in the future.
Checkout is at 12 noon tomorrow. Tonight, the store closes at 9 p.m
Time Clauses
In sentences that indicate the future with a time clause, always use the simple present in the part of the sentence that indicates time.
When I finish my studies, I am going to volunteer in South America.
Before the client visits, he will need our precise address.
Scheduling – Grammar