VERB TENSES

FUTURE FORMS

Grammatically speaking, there are only two tenses in English; present and past. The future can be expressed with:

  1. WILL or other modals + INFINITIVE
  2. the Present Continuous 
  3. BE + GOING TO – phrase
  4. others verb forms that refer to the future

1

WILL + INFINITIVE   – to express future intentions that have been made at the time of speaking.

C’mon, get into the car quickly, I will give a lift to the city. /offer/
All right. I‘ll have beef with roasted potato and fresh salad.  /decision/
I‘ll buy these pair of jeans and leather belt too.
I will help you if you get into trouble. /promise/

WILL + INFINITIVE  – for opinions  and predictions based on personal judgement

I don’t think it will be good enough for her.
I’m afraid your puppy won’t (will not) make it.
I suppose they will be late because of the traffic.
I’m sure Federer will beat his opponent in the next round whoever he’s going to be.
This affair won’t last long.

2

PRESENT CONTINUOUS  – for future arrangements (very often with time expressions)

I‘m flying to Canada on Sunday. /booked flight/
What are doing tonight? I’m going out with the guys. /arranged plans/
We‘re getting married this summer. /made arrangement/
No, I can’t make it this afternoon. I am seeing my accountant at 5PM and after I’m meeting up with my business partner. /according to my schedule/
Wait for me; I‘m coming in 10 minutes.

3

BE GOING TO – for predictions based on present evidence

Look at those clouds. It‘s going to rain in minutes.
Watch out! She is going to fall over.
She is going to have a baby.
This is your CV? The boss is not going to like it.

BE GOING TO – for intentions

I am not going to put up with this behaviour any more.
What are you going to do if your wife leaves you? Are you going to start everything from scratch again?
I am going to sell this old wreck and buy a new one.

4

BE ABOUT TO – for immediate future

Come quickly, the boss is about to leave. /he may leave in a minute/
I am about to eat. Would you like to join me?

BE + TO + INFINITIVE – for official announcements and imperatives

The company is to finish reconstruction by the end of this week.
You are to do this exercise no matter what.
The government is to introduce new tax policy.
You are not to use my laptop without my permission.

BE + ON THE VERGE OF/BRINK OF/ POINT OF – to say something will happen very soon

She is on the point of bursting into tears.
Due to global recession the company is on the verge of bankrupting.
Scientist are on the brink of understanding the gravitational waves. 

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