Summary: This post is about how to talk about future<\/b> in English. <\/span>To your surprise, ‘will’ is not<\/b> always a good choice as it is only one of the ways native speakers (if you like, Westerners) use to refer to future. The post starts with words of pop songs<\/b> (lyrics) and moves on to talk about ‘three other<\/b>‘ futures, focusing on planned future<\/b> in special.<\/span><\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>In lot of American pop songs, you will find things like:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I’m gonna<\/span> + miss you<\/span>
\nI’m gonna <\/span>+ run to you<\/span>
\nI’m gonna<\/span> + dance<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ <\/span>m gonna<\/span> + miss you (‘m gonna = am going to)<\/span>
\nI will <\/span> + miss you<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>Of course, they are not the same<\/span>! <\/span>Before you get the answer, there is one question for you.
\nWhat is it?<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\n<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/a>Do you know that \u2018will\u2019 is not the only choice<\/span> for talking about future? <\/span>Am I kidding? No, absolutely not. In English, there are <\/span>more than one ways<\/span> to talk about future. Thus, you <\/span>don\u2019t <\/span>have to use <\/span>\u2018will\u2019 all the time<\/span> for future. <\/span><\/p>\n
<\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nThere are, in fact, mainly four<\/span> different ways.   Which four? Read the four sentences first.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
1. I<\/span> will<\/span>finish<\/span> the job at 6pm<\/st1:time>.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
2. Our CEO<\/span> is going to<\/span><\/span> resign when profits are down.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
3. Our company<\/span> is renting<\/span><\/span> a new office.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
4. The meeting <\/span>ends<\/span> at 3:00pm<\/st1:time>.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
A. Four<\/span> Ways to Talk about <\/span>Future<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/h1>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n
Future (1)<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
will finish <\/span>(<\/span>\u2019ll finish<\/span>)<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
will + <\/span>verb<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
So-called \u2018Future\u2019 Tense<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Future (2)<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
is going to<\/span> (<\/span>\u2019s going to<\/span>)<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
is\/am\/are + going to<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
+<\/span>verb<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Present Continuous Tense<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Future (3)<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
is renting<\/span> (<\/span>\u2019s renting<\/span>)<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
is\/am\/are + <\/span>verb + ing<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Present Continuous Tense<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Future (4)<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
ends<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
verb<\/span> <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Present simple Tense<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
<\/a><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
The table <\/span>shows you that \u2018will\u2019 is<\/span> not the only<\/span>choice. In other words, when you want to talk about future, think about the choices of <\/span>boyfriends and girlfriends <\/span>you have. Usually you have more than one choice, right?   <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
So, what are the<\/span> differences <\/span>between the four ways of talking about future?   Before you get the answers, you have to<\/span> make something<\/span>. You have to make a plan. <\/span>For what? (It is) for learning future tenses in English.<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
             <\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A PLAN<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Future (1): <\/span>Planned<\/span> Future<\/o:p><\/span><\/h1>\n
<\/div>\n
In English, if you have a plan, you can talk about it with <\/span>the two present continuous tenses<\/span> followed: <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
She<\/span> is going to<\/span> meet <\/span>a new client.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
She <\/span>is meeting <\/span>a new client.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span>But is there any <\/span>difference<\/span> between \u2018is meeting\u2019<\/b>and \u2018is going to meet\u2019<\/b>? <\/span>Actually, they are very similar that they all refer to a future that is planned<\/span> in advance. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
But if you want to show that you have a <\/span>strong incentive <\/span>to do something (i.e. you really want to finish something), you may use \u2018are + going to\u2019. <\/span>There is, I am afraid, a frightening<\/span> example for you:<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I<\/span> am going to<\/span><\/span> kill you.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
When you use \u2018going to\u2019, it mean you have <\/span>a strong desire<\/span> that you have probably had a step-by-step plan, and that you are not going to stop until you are there. <\/span>In other words<\/span>, if you use \u2018<\/span>will<\/span>\u2019, the so called future tense, you are <\/span>less determined <\/span>and your words are <\/span>less powerful:<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
Less<\/span> <\/span>powerful<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n

\n<\/span>I <\/span>will <\/span>change the world.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
More<\/span> <\/span>powerful<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
I <\/span>am going to<\/span> <\/span>change the world.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
(Future 2<\/a> and Future 3<\/a><\/span><\/b>)<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summary: This post is about how to talk about future in English. To your surprise, ‘will’ is not always a good choice as it is only one of the ways native speakers (if you like, Westerners) use to refer to future. The post starts with words of pop songs (lyrics) and moves on to talk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-verb-for-business"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Writing-hands-only.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":769,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions\/769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindpowerasia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}