Future Forms

Will

1.) A future action or event at the point of decision

2.) to make a predictions about the future

3.) to make promises

I’ll go to Paragon with you this evening, I think.

You will meet a tall, dark stranger.

I’ll buy you a car for your birthday.

Going to

1.) Intentions or plans and arrangements based on intentions

We are going to visit our friends in New Zealand next winter.

2.) Future events and actions based on present evidence, especially when we can see that the event is imminent.

Watch out! We’re going to hit that tree!

Present Continuous

1.) plans and arrangements for the future. A time reference often makes the future meaning clear.

What are you doing tonight?

We are meeting early tomorrow morning.

Present Simple

Timetables and schedules

Our train leaves at 6.30 tomorrow morning.

The present simple is used with future reference in subordinate clauses after time conjunctions such as when, before, until, as

soon as

We’ll reply when we hear from you.

I hope you’ll write to us as soon as you get home.

Be + infinitive

Rules or instructions

Official plans

Staff are not to use company telephones for personal calls.

News reports

The Prime Minister is to visit South America next month.

Future continuous

An action or event in progress at a specific time in the future

This time next week, I’ll be lying on a beach in the sun.

FutureContinuous

Past Now Future

S+ will +be+ v.ing

I will be having breakfast at 9 o’clock tomorrow with Tony.

Future perfect

looks forward to a future time and then looks back from that point.

By the end of next year we’ll have finished the project.

FuturePerfect

Past Now Future

S+ will + have + v.3

They will have lived in Korea for 1 year by next month.

Future in the past: was/were going to/ would

+verb to look back to a past time and talk about the future as it was at that past time

By the time I left school I knew I was going to/ would become a doctor.