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  3. Future forms: 'will', 'be going to' and present continuous

Future forms: 'will', 'be going to' and present continuous

Future forms: 'will', 'be going to' and present continuous

Do you know how to talk about future plans using will, going to and the present continuous? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

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

Future plans: 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

Future plans: Grammar test 2

Try another grammar lesson
Average: 4 (280 votes)

Hello jassa,

You can find information on this topic here:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/talking-about-past

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by jassa on Mon, 20/01/2025 - 10:05

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Hello dear teachers 🙋‍♂️

I have read your reply("English has many ways to talk about the future but  doesn't have a single future tense")in response to someone's question here. 

I don't understand this🤔.We use future simple,continuous,perfect tenses in English.Please make this clear? 

Thanks

 

Hello jassa,

The name 'future simple' describes 'will', which is not in fact a tense but rather a modal verb. You can see this if you consider a sentence using 'will':

We will go to the party tomorrow.

You can use many different modal verbs instead of will and still refer to the future:

We might go to the party tomorrow.

We could go to the party tomorrow.

We should go to the party tomorrow.

We can't go to the party tomorrow.

Some languages have a grammatical future tense but English does not. Instead we use a range of different grammatical and lexical constructions to talk about different meanings related to the future (hopes, beliefs, intentions, plans, arrangements etc).

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

 

Hi Thelleke,

This question is a little too general for us to answer in the comments section. We answer specific questions - this one would need a series of lessons, not a short answer! However, on the relevant pages you can find explanations and examples of these forms:

Past simple

Past continuous

Past perfect

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you very much dear teacher 🙏

One another clarification. 

Sometimes there are sentences like:

"The prime minister is said to attend the meeting" Or "Admissions are to be started on next Monday"

What type of sentences they are? 

Do we use 'to  be' for future? 

Thanks

Hello jassa,

There are two different forms here.

be said to + verb is used for speculation. It can be speculation about the future but it can also be used to talk about the past or present depending on the form of the first 'be' (e.g. She was said to... / She is said to... etc).

 

be to + verb is a future form used in formal contexts for things that are scheduled and that we are sure will not change, especially for announcements. For example:

NASA is to make a major announcement tomorrow.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you so much for the clarification 🙏

One another question please-
"I can't attend the meeting tomorrow"
(Here 'can't' is used to talk about the future time) 
Can we use 'can' for talking about the future?

Thanks

Hello jassa,

Yes, we can. In fact, modal verbs in general are often used to talk about the future and 'can' is no exception.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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