There are many different ways to talk about the future. Here are some of the most common grammatical structures used to talk about the future.

Simple Future with 'will'

subject + will + verb

rollercoaster

Jenny will go on a roller coaster at the theme park!

scuba

Maybe we'll see some sharks in Hawaii.

snowboard

Will they go snowboarding in Whistler?

Remember that we can use contractions like 'we'll' and 'I'll' when using the word 'will.'


Simple Future with 'be going to'

subject + verb 'be' + going to + verb

tattoo

She's going to get a tattoo on her arm!

drive

Stephanie's going to drive for the first time!

race

Who's going to win the race?


Future Continuous

subject + will be + present participle (+ing)

dancing

We'll be dancing on stage at the concert.

station

Anita will be waiting for you at the train station.

whale

Will we be seeing any whales on the trip?

We can also use the phrase 'be going to' in the future continuous. The structure of the sentence changes slightly, but the meaning is more or less the same. it is more common to use 'will' with the future continuous.

Using 'will'

We'll be dancing on stage at the concert.

Anita will be waiting for you at the train station.

Will we be seeing any whales on the trip?

Using 'be going to'

We're going to be dancing on stage at the concert.

Anita is going to be waiting for you at the train station.

Are we going to be seeing any whales on the trip?


Using the Present Continuous

We can often use the present continuous tense to talk about the future.

subject + verb 'be' + present participle (+ing)

grandparents

Emma is visiting her grandparents next weekend.

turism

I'm going to New York this summer.

bus

We're taking the bus after school with the band.

Remember that we can use contractions like 'I'm' and 'we're' when using the verb 'be.'


Using the Simple Present


Unlock full access by logging in. Registered users can explore the entire lesson and more.

Exercises

keyboard_arrow_up