Future Time
Future Time
In previous lessons, you have learned that there are three tenses, but that was just for your convenience. There are only two tenses, present and past. Future is a time.
Verbs are changed with each tense, we put -ed or -d in the past, but there isn’t any particular way to change the verb in future time.
Future is unknown to all of us, but we can be sure about the actions that happened in the past. And the actions happening in the present. We can never be sure about the future.
There are many formats and structures to talk about the future. In this lesson, you are going to learn four common methods that help us in expressing our idea or actions about the future.
1. Using modal auxiliary verb ‘Will.’
One of the common mistakes students make is whenever they find ‘will’ in the sentence; they consider such a sentence as simple future tense. No! will is a modal auxiliary verb that is used to talk about future time.
Example:
- I will see you tonight.
- I will catch you up later.
Formation: for simple sentences about the future. You can follow this formation, or you can choose other as well.
| Affirmative sentence | Subject | Will | Root form of the verb | Rest sentence | Period |
| Negative sentence | Subject | Will not | Root form of the verb | Rest sentence | Period |
| Interrogative sentence | Will | Subject | Root form of the verb | Rest sentence | Question mark |
Ways to use ‘will.’
There are three different ways to use modal auxiliary verb ‘will’.
- No plan
- Making Prediction
We often say things without thinking about them before we speak, such actions are not planned. In such sentences, we use will when we make a spontaneous decision at the time of speaking.
Example:
- You forgot your book in the room. I’ll bring it.
- I will see what I can do for you.
- Wait. I will bring you a coffee.
In the above examples, the speaker had no plans for doing these things. We can use will with the verb ‘think’.
Example:
- I think I will leave Pakistan tomorrow.
- I don’t think; I will buy that dress for my wedding.
- Do you think he will love it?
You can use ‘ will’ in a sentence to predict something. The prediction doesn’t mean a firm plan. Nor we have any evidence. Again we are saying that whatever we think will happen in future.
Example:
- Do you think it will rain tomorrow?
- She won’t go to London until her marriage.
- I don’t think you will secure 1st position.
2. Firm plan (be)
The third way to use ‘ will’ is to talk about firm plans and without speaking spontaneously. In such cases ‘ will’ is followed by the verb ‘ be’. But verb be is exceptional, such sentences are often expressed using ‘ going to’.
Example:
- I will be in America next week.
- I will be at the cafeteria in an hour.
- I won’t be available tomorrow.
- Going to
The second method to express actions about the future time is using special construction ‘going to’. ‘Going to’ is used in informal writing. You have to use ‘will’ in informal writings.
Formation: for simple sentences about the future. You can follow this formation, or you can choose other formats as well.
| Affirmative sentence | Subject | Is/ am/ are | Going to | Root form of the verb | sentence | Period |
| Negative sentence | Subject | Is/ am/are +not | Going to | Root form of the verb | sentence | Period |
You can use going to in two ways.
3. Prediction
We can use 'going to' in sentences to predict the future when we have evidence. We are sure that something will happen.
You learnt that you could use modal auxiliary verb 'will' to predict the future, but there is a limitation that you can use 'will' when you have no evidence.
Example:
- The weather is cloudy; it is going to rain.
- Professor seems angry; he is going to kick us out of the class.
- I burnt my dress; my mother is going to get angry.
4. Intention
The other way to use ‘ going to’ is when you have strong intentions about doing something in future. You had already thought over the decision before speaking; in such cases, we use going to.
Example:
- I am going to meet you tomorrow.
- We are not going to leave tomorrow for Paris.
- She is not going to buy a gift for him tomorrow.
You can also use present continuous tense to discuss plans. Present continuous/ progressive tense is used to talk about the ongoing actions. We can use it for plans by adding adverb of time for the future, such as tomorrow, next year, next week, in 2021 etc.
Example:
- Aleena is marrying joe tomorrow.
- She is not coming to my home tomorrow. She is busy with assignments.
Most of the times intention and plan do not differ from each other, in such cases going to and present continuous are interchangeable.
Example:
- She is going to sing a song for her friend tomorrow.
- She is singing a song for her friend tomorrow.
When you have an event scheduled for the future, you can use present simple tense to express the future. You have to use a future phrase like at 6.50 am, next week etc. few of the verbs are used in such sentences. Such as arrive, leave, begin, start, open, return.
Example:
- The class starts at 8.00 am.
- The train arrives at 9.00 pm.
- She leaves at 4.00 pm.
Conclusion:
No one can express the future with 100% certainty that’s why the future is not a tense. You have learned four methods to talk about future time. All of them somehow differ in probability or chances of occurrence of an event or an action.