Welcome to your Future lesson! In this topic we talk about:
• Using the Future: Going to
• Forming “Be going to” sentences
• Short answers
• The Present Continuous for the Future
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Using the Future: Going to
To talk about what we have the intention of doing, or to predict an event, we use the expression “be going to + infinitive verb”:
“I am going to buy a book.”
“It is going to rain tomorrow.”
Forming “Be going to” sentences
- Affirmative form:
subject + be (conjugated) + going to + infinitive verb
“He is going to play football this weekend.”
“We are going to watch a film.”
- Negative form:
subject + be (conjugated) + not + going to + infinitive verb
“They are not going to eat dinner.”
- Interrogative form:
be (conjugated) + subject + going to + infinitive verb?
“Are they going to drink some milk?”
Careful, with “be going to” sentences, only the auxiliary “be” changes depending on the subject. The verbs do not change.
Short answers
Short answers are formed:
“Yes + subject + be (conjugated)” or “No + subject + be (conjugated) + not”:
“Are you going to sleep?”
“Yes, I am.” / “No, I’m not.”“Is she going to cry?”
“Yes, she is.” / “No, she isn’t.”
The Present Continuous for the Future
We can also use the present continuous to talk about a planned future. Sometimes, the sentence contains a word, or an expression that talks about the future (tomorrow, next week…):
“My uncle is coming tomorrow.”
“We are flying to London next week.”
