Future: Will

 

The most common way to talk about things and events in the future is to use the verb ‘will’.

 

To form the Future tense with will, we use will (’ll) + the verb (base form without ‘to’):

 

Singular	Plural
I will (’ll) sing You’ll sing He/she/it’ll sing	We’ll sing You’ll sing They’ll sing

 

We can use ‘will’ in English in several ways:

 

1) to make a prediction about what you think is going to happen – even if there is no firm evidence for that prediction

•  Mary’s preparing for her exam. I believe she will do very well tomorrow.
•  Wait a few minutes. I think it will stop raining soon.

 

2) to offer to do something

•  You look tired. We’ll make you a cup of coffee.
•  Is that the phone? I’ll answer it.

 

3) when making a promise:

•  Don’t worry, mom, I’ll be careful.
•  We will be there by eight, I promise.

 

4) to describe a quick decision that you have made at the time of speaking:

•  Oh, it’s raining! I’ll take my umbrella.
•  What would you like? — I’ll have a tea, please.

 

To make negative statements with ‘will’, we use:

 

  will not (won’t) +the verb (base form without ‘to’):

 

Singular	Plural
I will not (won’t) eat You won’t eat He/she/it won’t eat	We won’t eat You won’t eat They won’t eat

•  It’s too late; I won’t go through that park.
•  That’s a very big pizza. We won’t finish it.
•  Pete is in New York. He will not travel to Brazil with us.

 

To make questions with ‘will’, we rearrange the word order and use:

 

  will + subject +the verb (base form without ‘to’):

 

Singular	Plural
Will I be fine? Will you be fine? Will he/she/it be fine?	Will we be fine? Will you be fine? Will they be fine?

•  Patrick finally dared to ask: “Will you marry me, Cindy?”
•  This cake looks very small. Will it be enough for all of us?

 

We can use ‘shall’ instead of ‘will’ when asking for a decision, making polite offers or suggestions, or in more formal situations.

 

We form questions with ‘shall’ like this:

 

  (question word) + shall + subject + the verb (base form without ‘to’):

 

Note: We can start the question with ‘shall’ and no question word if it is not required.

 

Singular	Plural
Shall I visit? Shall you visit? Shall he/she/it visit?	Shall we visit? Shall you visit? Shall they visit?

 

•  When shall I meet you?
•  What film shall we see?

 

• Shall we have a cup of tea?
• That’s a good idea.

 

•  You look tired. Shall I drive?
•  We shall go there together.

 

Future: Going to

 

The Future tenses in English are formed using auxiliary verbs.

 

One of the most commonly used constructions to express future actions is:

 

am/is/are + going to + the verb (base form)

 

Singular	Plural
I’m going to read You’re going to read He/she/it’s going to read	We’re going to read You’re going to read They’re going to read

 

We use going to:

 

1) to talk about future events that have been planned in advance:

•  Michael is going to buy a new car next year.
•  We are going to play tennis in the evening.

 

2) to make predictions (about the weather, actions of people, etc.) when there is evidence at the present moment:

•  Look at those clouds. (evidence) It‘s going to rain soon. (prediction)
•  That dog looks really angry. (evidence) It‘s going to attack us. (prediction)

 

We use the negative with ‘going to’ for things that probably will not or aren’t going to happen. To make negative statements with going to, we use:

 

am/is/are not + going to + the verb (base form)

 

Singular	Plural
I am not (’m not) going to run You’re not (aren’t) going to run He/she/it’s not going to run	We aren’t going to run You aren’t going to run They aren’t going to run

•  The concert has already started. We aren’t going to find free seats.
•  I’m not going to get wet; I have a raincoat.
•  Tom is sick today, so Jane’s not going to meet with him.

 

To make questions with ‘going to’, we change the order and use:

 

am/is/are + subject + going to + the verb (base form)

•  Is Jennifer going to be at the party?
•  Are we going to take this home with us?

 

Singular	Plural
Am I going to see? Are you going to see? Is he/she/it going to see?	Are we going to see? Are you going to see? Are they going to see?

 

Note: In short positive answers to the questions above we use only full forms of am/is/are. However, in short negative answers we can also use the contracted forms. Are you going to read a novel? – Yes, I am. / No, I’m not. Is he going to play badminton in the garden? – Yes, he is. / No, he’s not. / No, he isn’t. Are they going to visit their grandparents? – Yes, they are. / No, they’re not. / No, they aren’t.

 

 

Present Simple or Present Continuous?

 

How do you choose between Present Simple and Present Continuous?

 

Present Simple

 

We use Present Simple to talk about facts, hobbies and regular activities:

• Tom lives in London. (fact)
• I go swimming on Mondays. (regular activity)
• Do you speak Russian? (question about a fact)

We use the Present Simple to talk or ask about things that are always true:

• Do you speak English?
• I don’t have a car, I prefer to ride a bike.

We use the Present Simple to express likes, dislikes and opinions:

• I like football. (likes)
• I don’t like tennis. (dislikes)
• Do you love pop music? (question about likes)
• I think it’s interesting. (opinions)

We also use the Present Simple to talk or ask about habits:

• Peter goes for a walk every day.
• Do you drink tea or coffee in the morning?

We often use the Present Simple with adverbs of frequency (always, sometimes, never, etc.), or when we say a time, day or period (at 9.00, on Wednesdays, in spring, etc.):

• Sometimes I dream about you.
• I never walk alone at night.
• Jane wakes up at 7.00 a.m.
• He meets with his friends on Saturdays.

Present Continuous

 

We use the Present Continuous to talk about things happening now, or unfinished activities:

• Are you reading a book? (now)
• They are building a new house. (it’s not finished yet)
• Mary is studying French at university. (around now, not at the moment of speaking)

We use expressions like ‘at the moment’, ‘now’, and ‘today/this week/month/year’:

• Michael is talking on the phone at the moment.
• It’s snowing a lot this week.
• I’m working in our Chicago office this month.

Note: Want, like, love, need, understand and believe are not used in Present Continuous: I want something to eat. NOT: I’m wanting something to eat. Do you need a pencil? NOT: Are you needing a pencil?

 

 

 

Present Continuous: questions

 

To ask questions in Present Continuous, we use ‘am/is/are’ + subject + ‘-ing’ form of the verb:

 

Singular	Plural
Am I working? Are you working? Is he/she/it working?	Are we working? Are you working? Are they working?

• Is it raining today?
• Are you leaving?
• Is he driving? 

 

Note: We don’t say ‘Yes, I’m’ to answer positive questions, we say ‘Yes, I am.’ We can say ‘No, I’m not’ or ‘No, I am not’ to answer negative questions:

 

• Are you studying now?
• Yes, I am (No, I’m not).

 

• Is Ben playing golf?
• Yes, he is (No, he isn’t).

 

• Are your friends staying at a hotel?
• Yes, they are (No, they aren’t).  

 

To ask questions with the question words Where, What, When, Who, How, and Why, we put the question word before ‘am/is/are’:

• What are you doing?
• When is he coming?
• Why is she crying?

 

 

Present Continuous: negative

 

To say we are not doing something at the moment in Present Continuous, we use am/is/are + not + the “-ing” form of the verb:

 

Singular	Plural
I am not sleeping You are not sleeping He/she/it is not sleeping	We are not sleeping You are not sleeping They are not sleeping

 

Note: The verb ‘be’ (am/is/are) + not may be contracted. I’m not watching TV. Jack isn’t walking. We’re not (We aren’t) eating.

 

 

Present Continuous: statements

 

Present Continuous is a present tense. We use Present Continuous to say what we are doing now:

• I am reading a book.
• Antony is speaking.
• I am listening.

 

To make Present Continuous, we use am/is/are + the “-ing” form of the verb:

 

Singular	Plural
I am working You are working He/she/it is working	We are working You are working They are working

 

Note: The verb ‘be’ (am/is/are) can be contracted: I’m cooking right now. He’s reading a book at the moment. We’re going to the cinema tonight.

 

Spelling rules for verbs when adding ‘-ing’:

1. For verbs with silent ‘-e’ at the end, change ‘-e’ to ‘-ing’:

• to choose → choosing
• to glide → gliding

2. For verbs with ‘-ie’ at the end, change ‘-ie’ to ‘-ying’:

• to tie → tying
• to lie → lying

3. For verbs with consonant + vowel + consonant at the end and final syllable stressed, double the last consonant (except for ‘-x’ and ‘-w’) and add ‘-ing’:

• to for’get → forgetting
• to ‘swim → swimming

In Present Continuous we usually use the words like now, at the moment, right/just now, etc.

 

Note: We don’t normally use the following verbs in the Present Continuous   Like   Love    Hate    Want    Know

• I don’t like westerns.

NOT: I’m not liking westers.

• He knows Amsterdam well.

NOT: He’s knowing Amsterdam well.

 

Common usage cases

 

1) action taking place at the time of speaking:

• I am reading a book at the moment.

 

2) action taking place during present period:

• Some friends of mine are building their own house. They hope to finish it next summer.

 

3) a planned action in the near future:

• We are going to the cinema in 20 minutes.

 

4) describing personal traits or habits, usually with a negative meaning:

• He is always shouting at me.

 

5) describing changes or trends taking place in present:

• The population of the world is increasing very fast.