3.6 The Future: will / shall, questions

To make questions with ‘will’, use:

 

Will + subject + base form of the verb 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 say: “Will you marry me, Cindy?”

 

This cake looks very small. Will it be enough for all of us?

 

‘Shall’ is normally used instead of ‘will’ when asking for a decision or making polite offers or suggestions.

 

We form questions with ‘shall’ like this:

(question word) + shall + I/we + the base form of the verb:

 

Singular Plural
(Whom) Shall I visit?

(Whom) Shall you visit?

(Whom) Shall he/she/it visit?

 (Whom) Shall we visit?

(Whom) Shall you visit?

(Whom) 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?

 

Note: ‘shall’ is only used with ‘I’ or ‘we’ and mostly in British English.

 

3.5 The Future: will, negative

To make negative statements with ‘will’, use:

 

will not (won’t) + the base form of the verb 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 won’t travel to Brazil with us.

 

We’ll be back in an hour

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.

 

3.3 The Future: going to, questions

 

To make questions with ‘going to’, use:

 

‘am/is/are’ + subject + going to + main verb:

 

Jennifer is going to be at the party (positive).

 

Is Jennifer going to be at the party (question)?

 

Singular
Am I going to see them?

Are you going to see them?

Is he/she/it going to see them?

 

Plural
Are we going to see them?

Are you going to see them?

Are they going to see us?

 

Note: in short positive answers to the questions above we use only full forms of am/is/are.

In short negative answers we can also use short forms of am/is/are.

 

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 or he isn’t).

 

Are they going to visit their grandparents?

Yes, they are.

(No, they’re not or they aren’t).  

 

3.2 The Future: going to, negative

 

In negative sentences with ‘going to’ we talk about things which probably will not happen. To make negative statements with ‘going to’, use:

 

am/is/are not + going to + the base form of the verb:

 

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 have a raincoat and I‘m not going to get wet.

 

Tom is sick today, and Jane‘s not going to meet with him.

 

I’m going to change my job

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.

 

 

2.22 Present Perfect Continuous or Past Perfect Continuous?


How do you choose between the Present Perfect Continuous and Past Perfect Continuous?

 

The Present Perfect Continuous is used to talk about an action in progress that was taking place until the present moment.

 

I’m really tired. I have been carrying those bags for half an hour.

 

The Past Perfect Continuous is used to talk about an ongoing action that was taking place until another specified moment in the past.

 

I had been carrying those bags for half an hour when I met Peter and he helped me.

 

Consider the following examples:

 

Present Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous
I‘m really thirsty. I have been cycling for three hours. I was really thirsty. I had been cycling for three hours.
They have been playing all day long and now they are tired. They had been playing all day long before they got tired and went home.
Mary haven’t been doing well at school last month and the results of her tests are poor. Mary hadn’t been doing well at school last month, so she failed her final tests.

 

2.21 Past Perfect Continuous: questions


To make questions in the Past Perfect Continuous, use:

 

Had + subject + been + the “-ing” form of the verb

 

Singular Plural
Had I been skating?

Had you been skating?

Had he/she/it been skating?

 Had we been skating?

Had you been skating?

Had they been skating?

 

 

Had it been snowing for a long time before you went for a walk?

 

Had you been playing with Timothy when mom called you for dinner?

 

Had she been studying Spanish for a long time by the time she went to Madrid?  

 

Note: in short positive answers to the Past Perfect Continuous questions we use only full forms of had.

In short negative answers we can also use short forms of had.

 

 

Had you been playing football?

Yes, I had (No, I hadn’t).

 

Had she been watching TV at that moment?

Yes, she had (No, she hadn’t).

 

2.20 Past Perfect Continuous: negative

To make negative statements in the Past Perfect Continuous, use:

 

had not been + the “-ing” form of the verb

 

Singular Plural
I had not been sleeping

You hadn’t been sleeping

He/she/it hadn’t been sleeping

 We hadn’t been sleeping

You hadn’t been sleeping

They hadn’t been sleeping

 

 

Mary decided to buy a new juicer because her old one hadn’t been working for years.

 

He hadn’t been studying for 5 months before he was expelled from the university.

 

I hadn’t been training hard enough and lost the fight.

 

2.19 Past Perfect Continuous: positive


The Past Perfect Continuous is normally used with the Past Simple to talk about an activity that was in progress before another action or event happened.

 

In such statements the Past Simple describes a completed event in the past and the Past Perfect Continuous describes a repeated or continuing action that was taking place before that completed event.

 

He had been studying (Past Perfect Continuous) French for two years before he went (Past Simple) to Paris.

 

By the time Nick arrived (Past Simple) to the station, he had been walking for two hours.

 

To make the Past Perfect Continuous, use

 

had been + the “-ing” form of the verb

 

Singular Plural
I had (’d) been fishing

You’d been fishing

He/she/it’d been fishing

 We’d been fishing

You’d been fishing

They’d been fishing

 

 

Peter decided to buy a new car because his old one hadn’t been working for years.

 

I went to see the doctor after I‘d been feeling unwell for a few days.