Part 2: Verbs
Future Verb Forms
Examples
You will go to the ball!
She’s going to be late.
The carriage is leaving at 5pm.
Definition
Common sense suggests that a language which has past and present tenses must have a future tense. English, however, is a bit tricky since it does not technically have a future tense – that is, you can’t inflect (change) a verb to make it future as you can for the present and past. Some languages like French and Spanish have inflected future tenses, which your learners might expect in English.
Nonetheless, we obviously can talk about the future, and we use several different verb forms to do this. When most people think about the future tense, they probably mean the use of will (I will call you later). Technically, will is a modal verb that expresses future intention, very confident predictions, or certain outcomes. Other ways to express the future include:
- be going to, especially for plans (I’m going to see the new Marvel movie this weekend)
- present progressive for the near future or scheduled events (the play is starting in five minutes)
- present simple/timeless present for events that always happen (the class ends at 2pm).
Form
While there are small differences in meaning among the different future forms, their use is often idiomatic rather than strictly rule-based, and it is not a priority for most learners to worry about the differences. As a guide:
- will often expresses great certainty, especially for decisions taken on the spot: I’ll lend you my headphones; Cinderella will go to the ball.
- will is also used for promises (and threats!): We’ll be ready! I’ll be back!
- be going to often refers to plans that have already been made: I’m going to visit my parents this weekend.
- be going to can also be used for predictions based on present conditions – for example, you might look at the dark clouds and say, “it’s going to rain.” Or if you’ve forgotten your homework, you can predict that your teacher is going to be upset with you.
- the present progressive is used for schedules, especially if they are seen as happening in the near future: hurry! the train is leaving in a few minutes.
- the present simple is timeless, so although it might express the future, it means that something always happens rather that something that is only happening today: the school bus comes at 7:15; doors open at 6pm.
Careful!
We do not use will in adverb clauses of time and condition (i.e. in dependent clauses starting with if, when, before, and after). This is a common error especially since other languages do prefer the future tense in time clauses. For example:
I will call you after I will get home.
When you will enter the building, go to the main office.
An inflectional suffix is an ending that is added to a word to make it fit the grammar - e.g. the -s on a plural noun or third-person verb (she likes).
Modal verbs express permission, ability, obligation, necessity, or certainty. They are: can, could, may, might, (shall,) should, must, ought to, will, would. Modal verbs are considered a type of auxiliary verb.
The present progressive tense is the form: I am waiting, she is listening, they are eating, the doctor is sleeping.
Present simple (or, timeless present) tense is the form: she eats, I like, they go, the students write.
An adverb clause is a dependent clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction (because, if, when, while, although, etc.).
A dependent (or, subordinate) clause adds meaning to the main clause such as a time (when…), condition (if…), reason (because…), concession (although…), restriction (people who…), or additional information (which means…). A dependent clause by itself is a fragment not a complete sentence in formal writing.
