The Future Tense
Lessons (1f): Six tenses for the future
There are six tenses you can use for the future.
On this page, we look at five of them. Click here for the sixth (the future perfect).
First, the good news
The difference between these five tenses is very small. "I'm going to go home at 5 o'clock" means exactly the same as "I'm going home at 5 o'clock.", and almost exactly the same as "I'll go home at 5 o'clock."
The biggest difference is between the “going to” future and the “will” future. Even with these two, we often use them interchangeably. If somebody uses a future tense three times, they may use “going to” twice and then use “will” the third time, just for a change.
And there are lots of other ways to talk about the future, such as:
The future's simple
There are two ways to make the Future Simple tense:
- be + going to . We use this to talk about plans which were made last week, or 2 hours ago: (“I’m going to go home at 5.00 today” or “I’m going to visit my parents on Thursday”)
- the auxiliary will. We use this to talk about a decision which the speaker made 2 seconds ago. (“John, the telephone is ringing!” “OK, I’ll get it!)”
These are the really important future tenses, and the real subject of this lesson.
Compare the "going to" future and the "will" future
JOHN: "I'm going to go the supermarket."
LISA: "No, I'll go."
There is a small difference here; what is it?
At 3 pm on Thursday, Ann said “I’m going to start a diet this weekend”. Was it a sudden decision? No, probably she made her decision earlier in the week. On Tuesday, perhaps.
At 3 pm on Saturday she said “I’ll start my diet on Monday”.
When did she change her mind? ______________________________________
Can you think of a reason why? _____________________________________
Future Simple 1: the "going to" future
“If I don’t do my homework, I’m not ______________ [pass] the test.”
“If you miss the train, how are you _____________[get] home?”
“Elizabeth is ______________ [take] Sarah to the hospital on Friday”.
"Going to" future, positive and negative:
| POSITIVE | NEGATIVE |
|---|---|
| "I'm going to buy a cake for Anna's birthday" | "She's not going to want a cake from a shop." |
| "Are we going to have a birthday dinner together?" | "No, because Mike isn't going to be there." |
"Going to" future, question and answer:
| QUESTION | ANSWER |
|---|---|
| "Are you going to make something special for Anna?" | "Yes, I'm going to make a raspberry Pavlova, it's her favourite." |
| "How are we going to get back home after the party?" | "John's going to drive us." |
| "Is he going to be OK to drive?" | "Yes, he's going to drink orange juice all evening." |
Future Simple 2: the "will" future
a) Will and won't for a decision made a few seconds before:
“I’ll see you after work.”
“Don’t do the washing-up, Simon, I’ll do it later.”
Q. “Do you think you’ll be back home by 6 o’clock?”
A. “No, I don’t think I will.”
Q. “What are you going to do if you miss the train?”
A. “No problem, I’ll get a taxi instead”.
b) Will and won't used for promises:
Q. “Will you be back home by 6 o’clock?”
A. “Yes, I will.”
“Tonight is Anna’s birthday party, OK?”
“I won’t forget! I’ll buy a present this afternoon”.
c) Will and won't used for prediction:
“I think it’ll probably rain later.”
"No, it won't."
“South Africa won’t win the next World Cup. It’s not possible”.
d) Will and won't used for strong intention:
“I don't care what you say – I will go to London tomorrow”.
NOTE: Especially in the examples for prediction and strong intention, it’s possible to use “going to” instead of “will”. For example, “I think it’s probably going to rain later” or “I don’t care what you say - I’m going to (go to) London tomorrow”.
Present Continuous tense used for the future
This present tense is often used when talking about the future, particularly to talk about arrangements that have been made with another person.
“John is coming to stay for the weekend. He’s arriving tonight”.
“Great! Are you picking him up from the station?”
“What are you doing in December?”
“I’m going to Madrid for three weeks with Sam."
NOTE: The present continuous of “go”, used for the future, is usually interchangeable with the “going to” future. It would make the last sentence “I’m going to go to Madrid for three weeks with Sam”. If there is a difference between these two sentences, it’s very small.
Present Simple tense used for the future
We don’t often use the present simple to talk about the future, but we do use it sometimes:
To talk about timetables
"The next train is at 18.05."
“The train for London leaves from Platform 6 at 09.32”
To talk about times for appointments and activities:
“The meeting tomorrow is at 12.00”
“What time does the party start this evening?”
For time clauses:
We can say that a train or appointment will be “at” a particular time such as 9.32 or 12.00. We can also use a time clause with a word like “before”, “after”, “when” or “as soon as”. We must use the present simple for the time clause, not a future simple:
“I’ll do it before I go home”.
“I’ll do it before I’ll go home”.
“When Anna arrives, we’ll all go to the restaurant together.”
“When Anna will arrive, we’ll all go to the restaurant together."
(This is very similar to the first conditional:
“We’ll get wet if it rains.”
“We’ll be late if we miss the bus”.
However, that's for another lesson.)
Present Perfect tense used for the future
We sometimes use the present perfect to talk about things that will happen after a specified future activity. We do this by using it in a time clause, with time expressions such as “after”, “as soon as” and “when”.
“After we’ve had lunch, we can go to the beach”.
“After we’ll have lunch, we can go to the beach”.
“As soon as I’ve decided what to do, I’ll tell you”.
“As soon as I’ll decide what to do, I’ll tell you”.
“When you’ve finished the homework, you will understand how to use future tenses”.
“When you’ll finish the homework, you will understand how to use future tenses”.
NOTE: In each of these examples, we could use the present simple instead of the present perfect:
“After we have lunch, we can go to the beach”.
“As soon as I decide what to do, I’ll tell you”.
“When you finish the homework, you will understand how to use future tenses”.
Exercises and homework on the future tenses
What you hear in class, you remember for 30 minutes; what you practice in class, you remember for 48 hours; what you do for homework, you remember for long enough to start using it!
I have exercises and homework for the future tenses, but I don't give away all my work for free. You can find some exercises in a good English grammar book. Click here to see more.