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

Language level

B1 Intermediate

B2 Upper intermediate

Hello,

I'd like to clarify some points about their functions and uses.

A client asks their fitness instructor what will happen if they cancel or reschedule their training:

If you cancel a visit, we are not going to have it at all, but if you reschedule it, we will eventually have it.

To me, "be going to" puts more emphasis on the decision not to train, sort of like "you've already made a decision not to do anything in the future (because you'll have already cancelled the visit before the time to train comes), or you don't have any intention to do anything in the future," but when "will" is used, the speaker is certain that the action will happen at some point in the future; "will" puts more emphasis on certainty or promise rather than on the decision. Also, "will" doesn't tell us anything about schedules or plans; something "will just happen" after pushing that particular training further back. No precise plans can be made due to the fact that the possible time slots will have to be discussed.

Does my explanation make sense? Would add/change anything?

Thank you

Hello Tony_M,

There are different ways you could go at this. You could look at it from the point of view of an intention vs a decision as in your explanation, or you could got from the idea of going to being an expected result of existing evidence. In that sense your explanation is fine. However, if you try switching the forms around here you can do it freely: going to + will (the original example), will + going to, will + will, going to + going to - all of these are fine. That suggests to me that whatever difference there is ihere s mainly one of style and choice rather than some external fact about the situation. This is not uncommon with the various future forms in English where the meanings in some contexts are so similar that stylistic considerations overwhelm any other factors.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you, Peter.

The museum is closed, so I'll just take a stroll.
I'm going to the museum after work. I've heard they have some interesting new paintings.
I'm seeing Ana at the museum tonight.

𝑇𝘩𝑒 𝑤𝘢𝑖𝘵ress 𝘪𝑠 𝑐𝘰𝑚𝘪𝑛𝘨 𝘵𝑜 𝑡𝘢𝑏𝘭𝑒 𝑛𝘶𝑚𝘣𝑒𝘳 20 𝑎𝘵 𝘖𝑎𝘴𝑖𝘴 𝘛𝑜𝘶𝑟𝘪𝑠𝘵 𝘊𝑎𝘧𝑒́.

𝗪𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀: Here you are. What would you like to drink?

𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮: I’𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 a cup of tea, please.

𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮: I’d like a glass of orange juice, please.

𝗪𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀: Great! One tea and one orange juice coming right up.

𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮: Celina, tell me what you a𝐫e g𝐨i𝐧g to choose at university.

𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮: I’m undecided between studying medicine and pharmacy, but we’𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 a university orientation seminar next Sunday.

𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮: Hopefully, it 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 you make the best choice. You could become a pharmacist like your mother or a doctor like your father.

𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮: Yes, you’re right. Thank you.

Hello again,

Please help with the following:

Why in _______________ in a car! They've accepted my offer today.

the suggested answer is Present Cont. Would it be possible to use Future Simple here? Actually we have no time nor place and no information that it is arranged.

Thanks in advance.

Adam

Hello Adam,

In many cases more than one form can be used for talking about the future in English but I think here the context heavily points to one form - the present continuous. This is because of the second sentence: They've accepted my offer. This tells us that buying a car is not a spontaneous decision at the moment of speaking but something that has already been set in motion (the speaker's offer has been accepted). Thus the present continuous is appropriate rather than the modal verb 'will'.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello,

Could you please justify your choice in

What _____ when you finish university?

Why do you think it should require Present Continuous? Is Future Simple out of question here?

Regards,

Adam

As the website states: "We often use the present continuous to ask about people's future plans."

In light of the context, the student has already developed a plan for the end of the course.

Hello Adam,

The idea was that the university graduate already had a plan, but you're right to point out that this is not very clear.

For this reason, I've changed the wording of this question to:

What _____ when you finish university? Jana said you already have a plan.

This clearly shows that the graduate has a plan and so only the present continuous (or possibly 'going to' form) works here.

Does that make sense?

Thanks for taking the time to point this out to us.

Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team