Hello everyone!
This month we will continue my blog series on the different forms of future tense. This time, in Future Tense – Part 3 – Present Continuous for Future, we will look at how present continuous tense is used for future plans.
As a review, in Future Tense – Part 1 – Will, we focused on how to use “will” correctly. And, in Future Tense – Part 2 – Be Going To, we learned how to use “be going to”. I recommend reading these two blogs before continuing to read this one.
I have been teaching English in Japan for over 25 years. And, in my experience, most students of English in Japan think that they can simply use “will” for any situation when talking about future plans. This is not true.
So, I often ask my students, “What did you study about future tense in junior and senior high school?” Most students tell me that they studied “will” and “be going to” for future. Only two students, in 25 years, have said that they studied about using present continuous tense for future. This is very surprising to me! It is surprising because in basic daily English conversation, we often discuss future events that are often planned and arranged. So, present continuous is maybe the most used structure in conversation, when talking about our plans in the future.
Incorrect Uses of “will”
Let’s look at two examples:
Example 1:
“I will meet my friend this weekend.” X (This is incorrect.)
“I am meeting my friend this weekend.” O (This is correct.)
Example 2:
“I will go to the store soon.” X (This is incorrect.)
“I’m going to the store soon.” O (This is correct.)
So, why are “I will meet my friend this weekend.”, “I will go to the store soon.” incorrect English?
And, why are “I am meeting my friend this weekend”, and “I’m going to the store soon” correct English?
Let’s learn about the use of present continuous tense for future to find the answers.
When do we use present continuous for future?
First, it is important to say, it is commonly known that we use present continuous tense for things that we are doing right now.
Ex1. I am eating dinner with my friend now.
Ex2. He is working now.
BUT, if we use present continuous tense + a word or expression for a future time, we are talking about an action in the future, not an action now.
Some examples of a word or expression for a future time: “tomorrow”, “next week”, “in 2025”, “next Monday”, “after I finish work tonight” etc.
Ex1. I am eating dinner with my friend on Saturday night. (this has a future meaning)
Ex2. He is working tomorrow. (this has a future meaning)
Now, let’s look at the situations we use present continuous + a word or expression for a future time, which is mainly in 2 situations:
Situation 1:
We use present continuous for future after we have decided to do something, have a plan to do it, and we have made arrangements to do it.
In this case, the arrangements we have made are very important.
What are arrangements?
If you agree to meet your friend to do something…that is an arrangement.
If you have a reservation for a hotel, restaurant etc.…that is an arrangement.
If you have a ticket for a concert, baseball game, movie etc…that is an arrangement.
Your work schedule…that is an arrangement.
And, there are many other kinds of arrangements.
More examples of arranged plans:
Ex1. I’m working tomorrow.
Ex2. What are you doing tomorrow? (Here, I’m asking about your arranged plans for tomorrow)
Ex3. I’m staying at the APA Hotel, when I go to Tokyo next week.
Ex4. I’m going to a concert next month. I bought a ticket yesterday.
※ We can also use “be going to” in these examples but present continuous is more natural and more common for native speakers.
Situation 2:
We use present continuous for future, for things we are just about to do in the very near future.
**No arrangements are necessary in this case.
More Examples:
Ex1. I’m going to the restroom. I will come back soon.
Ex2. I’m leaving home in 10 minutes.
Ex3. I’m going to 7-11 soon. Do you need anything?
Ex4. I’m making dinner soon, so please don’t eat any snacks now.
※ We can also use “be going to” in these examples but present continuous is more natural and more common for native speakers.
Present Continuous for Future in Use
Now let’s go back to the 2 examples that we used at the start of this blog:
Example 1:
“I will meet my friend this weekend.” X (This is incorrect.)
“I am meeting my friend this weekend.” O (This is correct.)
In this example, I decided that I wanted to meet my friend to do something. Then I called my friend, or sent them a message. My friend and I decided where to meet, what time to meet etc. We made all the arrangements for our meeting. So, “I am meeting my friend this weekend” is correct, and “I will meet my friend this weekend” is incorrect and sounds very strange for native speakers.
※ We could also say “I’m going to meet my friend this weekend.” But, “I am meeting my friend this weekend.” is more natural.
Example 2:
“I will go to the store soon.” X (This is incorrect.)
“I’m going to the store soon.” O (This is correct.)
In this example, I decided before to go to the store, and now I am telling someone about my plan. And, it will happen in the very near future. So, “I’m going to the store soon” is correct, “I will go to the store soon” is incorrect, and again sounds strange for native speakers.
※ We could also say “I’m going to go to the store soon.” But, “I’m going to the store soon” is more natural.
Conclusion
In this blog, we studied the important usage of “present continuous” for future plans. In the last blog in this series, we are going to discuss present tense for future and summarize everything we have learned about future tense.
Goodbye for now!
Dan
– Smith’s School of English – Miyakojima –
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