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Seven ways to express the future in English.

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1. If the weather is good, the boat will leave on Friday.

2. I am going to leave on Friday.

3. I'm leaving on Friday.

4. I'll be leaving on Friday.

5. I'm about to leave.

6. I leave on Friday.

7. President Clinton is to leave on Friday.

Examples

1. (Will)

   • If you click here, the disk will be erased.

   • I will do that for you.

2. (going to)

   • I'm going to try again next week.

   • He's going to be late.

3. (be v+ing)

   • We're going home at 5 o'clock.

   • I'm taking a test this afternoon.

4. (will be v+ing)

   • I'll be coming back in a few minutes

   • Will you be going past the post office when you go home?

5. (about to v)

   • We're about to start.

   • I'm about to switch this off.

6. (v)

   • I start work on Monday.

   • The conference ends on Friday

7. (be to v)

   • The president is to visit Japan in November.

   • The prime minister is to attend the summit in Halifax next week.

Meanings

1. WILL is used mainly in two ways.

   1. To make predictions about the future. This is most commonly seen in IF-THEN clauses.

   2. To make OFFERS to help someone. This resembles AGERU and KURERU in Japanese.

      Note: WILL is not usually used to express your will or intention in spoken English!!!

2. BE+GOING TO is used to express your will or intention. It can also be used to express future events which you are quite certain will happen. This is stronger than a prediction.

3. BE V+ing is the most neutral way to express the future in spoken English. It has no special feelings or nuances attached. In written English WILL may be substituted.

4. WILL BE V+ing refers to the delayed future. It carries the nuance that something will happen before the stated event.

5. ABOUT TO V refers to the immediate future. It means that something will happen without delay. (Note: NOT about to has a completely different meaning.)

6. V alone refers to fixed or scheduled events in the future. These events are not usually under your control.

7. BE to V is a formal expression used to refer to events involving important people. It is often seen in news reports.

Assignment: Write two sentences illustrating each of the seven ways to express the future in English.

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