FUTURE TENSES
Present
simple
Timetables –
scheduled
events
When does the train leave? What time
does the film start? It starts at 9.00.
Present
continuous
Arrangements
John is leaving on the midnight train,
and I am meeting Mary at the station
at 10.00 this evening.
Be going
to
1. Intentions/Plans
2. Predictions (often
based on evidence)
I’m going to wash my hair.
Look! It’s going to rain soon.
Will
Requests
Promises
Snap decisions
Predictions
Inevitable facts
Offers
Often used with opinion
words
First conditional
Will you help me to wash the car?
I promise I won’t go without you.
I like it! I’ll buy it.
I think it will rain in London
tomorrow.
Harry will be 27 next year.
I’ll help you wash the car.
If it rains, I won’t play golf.
Future
continuous
1. Action in progress at a
future point in time
3. Predictions or expected
trends
At this time tomorrow, I will be
flying to Rome.
I’ll be seeing John as usual
tomorrow.
Hopefully, by 2020, most African
children will be receiving a higher
standard of education
Future Perfect
Simple
Action completed
before a certain
point in the future
By this time tomorrow, he will
have arrived in Rome.
Future
Perfect
Continuous
Continuous action
completed before a
certain point in the
future.
When she retires next June,
she will have been working here
for 20 years.