There are many ways to talk about the future in English. The two most common ways, though, are:
using the will(sometimes called the “simple future”) → to make a plan at the moment you are speaking
We will come for dinner.
using the expression going to → for a plan that existed before you spoke
We are going to come for dinner.
In this post, we’ll look more closely at these two ways to express the future, and we’ll also talk about how to use will and going to to form other future tenses, like the future continuous, future perfect, and future perfect continuous.
Let’s look into my crystal ball 🔮 and find out what the future holds for you as you learn the difference between these two ways to talk about the future!
In the future tense with will, follow this rule:
root
I will run.
She will run.
You will run.
Will is often shortened to ’ll after a . It looks like this:
I will buy the milk → I’ll buy the milk.
She will call tomorrow. → She’ll call tomorrow.
In spoken English, we even do this after nouns:
John will be here at six o’clock → John’ll be here at six o’clock.
Let’s first look more closely at how to form the future with will in different kinds of sentences, then we’ll come back to exactly when to use this form of the future.
Here are the basic rules for building different kinds of sentences in English using the future tense with will:
Affirmative sentence:
subject
root
I will read that book next week.
Question:
subject
root
Will you come to the game tomorrow?
What will we eat for dinner?
Negative:
subject
root
She will not have time to finish her homework.
You can use won’t as a short form of will not:
She won’t have time to finish her homework.
Be careful! The word ❌willn’t doesn’t exist!
The verb will in the future with will is technically an English modal verb. Like other modal verbs (can, should, might, etc.) we can use will before the auxiliary verbs be and have. This is how we create the future continuous, future perfect, and future perfect continuous!
Future continuous: John will be eating dinner.
Future perfect: John will have eaten dinner.
Future perfect continuous: John will have been eating dinner.
Do you see the similarity with other modals?
John might be eating dinner.
John might have eaten dinner.
John might have been eating dinner.
We use will when we are making a decision about the future.
English speakers began using will to talk about the future way back in the 8th century! The word will comes from an Old English word that meant “to wish” or “to be determined.” So saying I will go in the 8th century meant “I want to go.”
Let’s look at how this carries into modern English!
When you make a future sentence using will, you are usually making a plan about a future action. Before you speak, there is no plan, but you make the plan at the moment of speaking.
Look at this example:
Jill and Mike plan a party
Jimmy’s birthday party is this weekend.
Yes, I know. What do we need to do?
Well, someone has to order the cake and pick it up.
That’s easy, I’ll call the bakery this morning.
Okay, and I’ll make the guest list.
Don’t forget Aunt Jessie. She’ll want to come!
And all of Jimmy’s school friends, they’ll bring presents. We’ll tell them no more than $20 each.
Oh, and I’ll buy some decorations. How about balloons and streamers?
Don’t forget that we will need paper plates and cups!
I won’t forget. I’ll buy those at the party store too.
Because they are making plans or volunteering to do something at the same time they are speaking, they use will to talk about the future.
Even though we mostly use will when we are making a plan, it is not actually wrong to use it in other situations, but it may sound a little strange or unusual.
We sometimes use will to show we have really and fully decided to carry out a plan that already exists. In this case, we are using will to insist (or emphasize) that we now really think that we have decided to do something:
I WILL finish the report before Monday!
Now, let’s talk about the other very common way to talk about the future: using going to.
Here’s how to form the future with going to in English:
subject
root
I am going to run.
You are going to run.
She is going to run.
Notice that the verb be changes according to the subject of the sentence. As a reminder:
am → I
are → you, we, they, a noun
is → he, she, it, a noun
As usual, these forms of the word be can be shortened:
am → 'm: I’m going to…
are → 're: they're going to…
is → 's: she's going to…
English speakers will often shorten going to to gonna. This mostly happens in speech (not writing), but you will sometimes see the word gonna in writing that represents speech, like song lyrics, as in:
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
(you just got Rick Rolled!)
In some dialects you’ll hear it shortened even more, so that the whole phrase I am going to becomes Imma!
Let’s start by talking about how to talk about the future with going to, and then we’ll talk about when to use this form of the future tense.
Here are the basic rules for forming different types of future sentences using the expression going to in English:
Affirmative sentence:
subject
root
I am going to study this afternoon.
She is going to make a cake tomorrow.
Question:
subject
root
Are we going to visit the museum?
Is she going to watch the baby?
Negative:
subject
root
Mary isn't going to talk to the boss.
I'm not going to read that book.
Shorten negative sentences with:
is + not → isn’t
are + not → aren't
am + not → ❌amn't
In casual speech you may hear aint for all three! Have a look at our post on negative sentences in English to learn more!
We use going to to talk about the future that is already certain, often because we have already made plans about something we are going to do in the future before we speak about it.
Let's see an example:
Patty has plans for Mary’s visit
I’m so excited! My friend Mary is going to visit me this weekend from Buffalo! She’s never been in New York City, so I planned a lot of things to do.
First, we are going to walk in Central Park. It’s beautiful in the spring and I think she is going to like seeing the Shakespeare theater.
We’re not going to go to the zoo because Mary doesn’t like zoos very much.
I’m going to take her to a Broadway musical. We both love musicals, so that is going to be really fun for us. She isn’t going to know about this, it’s a special surprise.
We are also going to eat in an Indian restaurant. She likes sushi, but I’m not going to take her to eat that, I hate sushi!
We aren’t going to do the regular tourist things. We aren’t going to visit the Empire State Building or the Rockefeller Center.
I think Mary is going to want to see all the shops on Fifth Avenue instead; she is crazy about shopping.
Mary is going to be in New York for three days and I’m sure she is going to remember this visit for many years!
Sounds like Patty and Mary are going to have a good time! As you can see, Patty has everything planned about Mary’s visit before she tells us about it!
Some of her plans might not happen (for example, Mary might not like the Shakespeare theater), but because Patty has a plan, she still uses the future with going to.
In English, we often talk about the future using the present tense. The expression going to is actually just a special way to use the present continuous to talk about the future.
The phrase be going is the present continuous form of go, formed with the verb be + verb-ing. Can you see the similarities here?
He is going to Italy.
He is going to run.
The word go just has two different meanings:
go can mean "to travel"
go can mean “to have in one’s future” and in this sense, the object of the verb is always an infinitive with to.
Because be going is really just a present continuous verb, you can actually use the expression going to to talk about actions that were planned in the past! We just need to use that expression in the past continuous instead:
I was going to cook dinner, but I ran out of time.
Jessie was going to give you those for your birthday.
You can only use the word go to mean “to have in one’s future,” if you’re using the past continuous or present continuous. This is what makes the expression going to different from other verbs (like plan) with similar meanings.
The sentences below can only mean: “travel for the purpose of eating”
I went to eat dinner.
I will go to eat dinner.
I have gone to eat dinner.
Because the object of be going is an infinitive verb, you can use it before different types of infinitives:
...like past infinitives:
The gazelle is going to be eaten by that lion!
…or continuous infinitives:
The lion is going to be eating that gazelle soon!
…or perfect infinitives:
By tomorrow, that lion is going to have eaten the gazelle.
…or even perfect continuous infinitives:
By six o’clock, that lion is going to have been eating the gazelle for an hour.
This lets you use the whole phrase be going to to form a wide range of different future tenses. Let’s discuss when to use them!
As we described above, you can use will and going to before other auxiliary verbs to form several different “future tenses”: the future continuous, the future perfect, and the future perfect continuous.
The difference in meaning between will (making a plan) and be going to (nearly certain future) which we described above is also present in these other tenses!
Here is how and when to use them:
The future continuous
To describe an event in the future that will be in progress for some time, usually during another particular future event or moment:
By the time we set up the camera, the lion will be eating the gazelle.
By the time we set up the camera, the lion is going to be eating the gazelle.
The future perfect
To describe an event that will be finished before the time we reach another another future event or moment:
By the time we set up the camera, the lion will have eaten the gazelle.
By the time we set up the camera, the lion is going to have eaten the gazelle.
The future perfect continuous
To describe an event that will already be started before the time we reach another particular future event or moment but will not be finished yet.
By the time we set up the camera, the lion will have been eating the gazelle for ten minutes already.
By the time we set up the camera, the lion is going to have been eating the gazelle for ten minutes already.
Check out our post on the perfect continuous tenses in English to better understand what makes the future perfect continuous different from the other two!
Here’s what you should remember from this post:
The future with will → will + root
The future with going to → am/are/is + going to + root
Use will to talk about the future when you don’t have previous plans and you are deciding as you speak.
Use going to to talk about the future when you already have a plan.
Both will and going to can come before other auxiliary verbs to create the future continuous, future perfect, and future perfect continuous.
Do you want to know what your future will be? Why not check out our activities to practice the English future tense with will and going to! You might just find out!
