Look at these examples to see how will, going to and the present continuous are used.
Oh great! That meeting after work's been cancelled. I'll go to that yoga class instead.
I'm going to try to visit my relatives in Australia this year.
The restaurant is reserved for 8. We're having a drink at Beale's first.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Grammar explanation
We use different verb forms to talk about our plans for the future, depending on what kind of plan it is: a spontaneous plan, a pre-decided plan or an arrangement.
will
We use will to talk about spontaneous plans decided at the moment of speaking.
Oops, I forgot to phone Mum! I'll do it after dinner.
I can't decide what to wear tonight. I know! I'll wear my green shirt.
There's no milk. I'll buy some when I go to the shops.
going to
We use going to to talk about plans decided before the moment of speaking.
I'm going to phone Mum after dinner. I told her I'd call at 8 o'clock.
I'm going to wear my black dress tonight.
I'm going to go to the supermarket after work. What do we need?
Present continuous
We usually use the present continuous when the plan is an arrangement – already confirmed with at least one other person and we know the time and place.
I'm meeting Jane at 8 o'clock on Saturday.
We're having a party next Saturday. Would you like to come?
We often use the present continuous to ask about people's future plans.
Are you doing anything interesting this weekend?
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Comments
Hi dear teachers,
In ex2 there is a question saying, what............ next week. the correct answer is, what are you doing. So, is it Okay to also say what will you do next week?
Hi learn English team
Can you help me pls with the correct answer.
Tomorrow is the day I’ve decided 1. I’m going to start/ I’ll start/ I’m starting planning my future. The first thing 2. I’ll do / I’m doing/ I’m going to do is to make a wish list of all the things I hope 3. I’ll achieve / I’m achieving/ I’m going to achieve.
Thanks in advance.
Best wishes
Andi
Hello Andi,
For 1, I'd recommend just 'to start' over any of those options; but if I had to choose one, I suppose I'd choose the first one. For 2, the 'going to' form. For 3, I'd just say 'to achieve', but if I had to choose one, I'd choose the 'going to' form again.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
she is going to work next week
we will have dinner later this day
we are about to leave the mall
the doctor is to announce the result
I would be 18 by march
he will have been worked for 13 months
I leave at Monday
Hello,
Would you please explain why we have used " going to: in the exercise sentence "What are you going to do when you finish university?".
I am confused as it looks to me as we are asking for a person's future plan, and we have to use present continuous.
Thanks.
Hi FirasAkkad,
Using the present continuous is possible too: What are you doing when you finish university? This means that the plans are more arranged and confirmed.
But often, we can't assume that a person's plans are arranged and confirmed, so it might be better to ask a more general question using going to. Going to asks about what the person intends to do or has decided to do (not only about arranged and confirmed plans).
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks, Jonathan. It makes perfect sense.
Dear Sir,
I am confused because we use ''going to" to make predictions based on the evidence we can see, right? However, in my book, there is an example: "Shh! Don't make so much noise. You will wake everybody up." So in that case we do not predict what is going to happen based on evidence in present? I thought that if we can hear that somebody is noisy it such evidence as dark clouds which predict rain.
Please help me.
Best regards.
Hello Zuzanna,
I imagine that the person who wrote that sentence is using 'will' to express certainty about the result of making noise. You could also think of the situation as an implied first conditional ('If you make noise, you will wake them up'), which would also help explain the use of 'will' here.
I would probably say 'will' here too (for the reasons I explained above), but I don't think it would be wrong to use 'be going to'.
As you can see, the speaker's perspective on the situation is really important!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear sir, i would like to ask one question.
-What are you going to do this weekends?
-What are you doing this weekends?
Are they correct?
If i don't use ''this weekends'', can i ask ''what will you do?'' Is it correct?
Which condition can i use ''what will you do? "
Please explain me Sir.
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