Talking about the future in English is not difficult, but like most areas of English, there are some important rules. If you are studying English, you will probably learn these rules slowly over time, but in many cases, you have probably heard the different forms from native speakers or from watching movies, television or streaming. Here is a short summary of the different ways to talk about the future in English, and the situations when you use these different methods:

Will vs. Be Going To

The first way that many English language students learn to talk about the future is to use the verb “will”.

The good news: using “will” is usually very simple: will + verb

For example:

I will be home soon.

Will you have time this weekend to hang out?

The bad news: we usually only use “will” in specific situations, such as:

Making promises:

I will help you this weekend.

I won’t forget to pick you up!

Talking about decisions that we make in the moment:

            -My car is having a problem.

            -I’ll give you a ride to class!

Making Predictions:

It will probably rain on Saturday.

They probably won’t win the game this weekend. Their coach is terrible!

Notice that sometimes we use the adverb “probably” when we make predictions with “will”.

Future Plans

One of the most common ways to talk about the future is to talk about future plans, but we do not use “will” for this. We use: “be going to + verb”

For example:

Tonight, I’m going to finish my paper.

Next month, we’re going to visit Japan!

I’m not going to be at school tomorrow. I don’t feel well.

Are you going to visit your parents this summer?

Present Progressive and Simple Present

We can also use the verb tense present progressive to talk about future plans:

For example:

Tonight, we’re having dinner at the sushi restaurant.

I’m not leaving until the rain stops.

Another method for talking about the future is to use the verb tense simple present to talk about schedule or timetables:

For example:

My plane leaves at 6pm.

What time does the store open?

Check out this post for a review of ways to talk about the future. One of the best things to do is to listen to native English speakers and how they use the different ways to talk about the future! Have fun!