Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful cherry blossoms that are now blooming. The feeling of spring is in the air 🙂
In my last blog, I shared the annual Christmas party at Smith’s School of English Miyakojima. That blog was focused on the one of the social events that we hold at my school.
This month we are going back to English grammar to continue our study of Future Tense.
In Future Tense – Part 1, we focused on how to use “will” correctly. I recommend reading the discussion about “will” in that blog post first before reading this one.
This month in Future Tense – Part 2 we will look at how to use “be going to” correctly.
Incorrect Uses of “will”
First, let’s look at three examples:
Example 1:
“I think I will go to the concert, but I haven’t bought a ticket yet” X (This is incorrect.)
“I think I am going to go to the concert, but I haven’t bought a ticket yet” O (This is correct.)
Example 2:
“I will go shopping next week” X (This is incorrect.)
“I’m going to go shopping next week” O (This is correct.)
Example 3:
“I feel terrible. I think I will be sick.” X (This is incorrect.)
“I feel terrible. I think I’m going to be sick.” O (This is correct.)
So why are these sentences incorrect: “I think I will go to the concert, but I haven’t bought a ticket yet”, “I will go shopping next week”, and “I feel terrible. I think I will be sick” ?
And, why should we use “be going to” in these situations?
Let’s study the use of “be going to” for future to find the answers….
When do we use “be going to”?
We use “be going to” for future mainly in 2 situations:
Situation 1:
We use “be going to” after we have decided to do something, and we intend to do it but…
Type (A) no arrangements have been made yet
OR
Type (B) no arrangements are necessary (i.e. personal private plans)
※ We usually say “I think ~ is going to…” in Type (A)
“I’m going to watch TV tonight”
Here are some examples:
Ex1. I think I’m going to go to Canada to visit my mother in September. Type (A)
Ex2. I’m going to go to bed early tonight. Type (B)
Ex3. I’m going to watch the soccer match on TV tonight. Type (B)
Ex4. I think I’m going to go to the Bon Jovi concert next month, but I don’t have a ticket yet. Type (A)
Situation 2:
We use “be going to” when we make a prediction that is based on some current evidence or personal expertise.
※ For predictions that are NOT based on some current evidence or personal expertise, we use “will”
※ “be going to” predictions are stronger than “will” predictions
“It looks like it is going to rain”
Here are some examples:
Ex1. (Situation: We can see dark clouds headed to our location now)
It looks like it is going to rain. (current evidence)
Ex2. (Situation: I am a chef and my friend is about to cook steak at 220°C in the oven)
The steak is going to be tough if you cook it at that temperature. (personal expertise)
Ex3. (Situation: The car in front of you has its left turn signal flashing)
The car is going to turn left. (current evidence)
Ex4. (Situation: I am a teacher and I know the TOEIC test very well)
If you don’t improve your reading skills you are not going to be able to score above 600 points. (personal expertise)
Review of “will”
Now is a good time to review some things about the use of “will” from Future Tense – Part 1.
In that blog, we learned that there are 6 situations where we use “will” for future.
To help us understand the correct use of “be going to”, we should first review these two important points about when we use “will”.
We use “will” at the moment we decide to do something.
We use “will” when we make a prediction that is NOT based on any current evidence or personal expertise.
“Be going to” in Use
Now let’s go back to the 3 examples that we used at the beginning of this blog:
Example 1:
“I think I will go to the concert, but I haven’t bought a ticket yet” X (This is incorrect.)
“I think I am going to go to the concert, but I haven’t bought a ticket yet” O (This is correct.)
Here, we decided before to go to the concert, and we intend to go, but we haven’t made any arrangements yet. So, “I think I am going to go to the concert, but I haven’t bought a ticket yet” is correct. This is a Situation 1: Type (A) sentence.
Example 2:
“I will go shopping next week” X (This is incorrect.)
“I’m going to go shopping next week” O (This is correct.)
Here, we decided before to go shopping next week and no arrangements are necessary. This is a personal private plan that doesn’t involve anyone else. So, “I’m going to go shopping next week” is correct. This is a Situation 1: Type (B) sentence.
Example 3:
“I feel terrible. I think I will be sick.” X (This is incorrect.)
“I feel terrible. I think I’m going to be sick.” O (This is correct.)
Here, I said, “I feel terrible” so this is current evidence. With this evidence we can make a strong prediction about the future. So, “I feel terrible. I think I’m going to be sick.” is correct. This is a Situation 2 type sentence.
Conclusion
I hope this blog has helped you to understand how to use “be going to” for future.
In an upcoming blogs we will look at how to use Present Continuous tense and Present tense for future.
Until then, enjoy the wonderful spring weather!
Dan
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