English grammar · Intermediate
Future Tense: Will, Be Going To, and the Other Future Forms Compared
English has no single future tense. It talks about the future with several forms, each carrying a different attitude: will for predictions and decisions made on the spot, be going to for intentions and evidence-based predictions, the present continuous for arrangements, the present simple for timetables, and the future continuous and future perfect for actions in progress or completed by a future point. Choosing between them is a matter of meaning, not of grammar rules.
She's going to study medicine, and her course starts in September.
an intention with be going to, then a timetable in the present simple
What it is
Strictly speaking, English has only two tenses marked on the verb itself, present and past. The future is expressed with auxiliaries and with present forms used for future time, which is why grammars talk about future forms rather than one future tense. Six of them do nearly all the work: will + verb, be going to + verb, the present continuous, the present simple, will be + -ing (the future continuous), and will have + past participle (the future perfect). They differ not in when the event happens but in how the speaker sees it: as a prediction, an intention, an arrangement, a timetable, an activity in progress, or a completed result.
It'll rain later. (A prediction.) It's going to rain, look at those clouds. (A prediction from evidence.) I'm meeting Jo at six. (An arrangement.) The film starts at eight. (A timetable.)
How to spot it
Look for will or 'll, going to, or a present tense with a future time word (tomorrow, next week, at six). Will be + -ing and will have + past participle mark the two compound future forms.
- I'll help you with that. (will: an offer decided now)
- We're going to repaint the kitchen. (be going to: a plan already made)
- This time next week I'll be lying on a beach. (future continuous: in progress at a future moment)
- By Friday I'll have finished the report. (future perfect: complete before a future point)
Shall survives mainly in offers and suggestions with I and we: Shall I open the window? Shall we go? As a plain future (I shall return) it sounds formal or old-fashioned in most varieties today.
Future Tenses Quick Reference
The six future forms compared
| Form | Structure | Main use | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will | will + base verb | predictions, instant decisions, promises, offers | I think it'll be fine. I'll get the door. |
| Be going to | am / is / are going to + base verb | intentions, predictions from evidence | We're going to move house. She's going to fall. |
| Present continuous | am / is / are + -ing | fixed arrangements with other people | I'm seeing the dentist on Tuesday. |
| Present simple | base verb (+ -s) | timetables and schedules | The train leaves at 7.15. |
| Future continuous | will be + -ing | in progress at a future time | At nine I'll be driving to work. |
| Future perfect | will have + past participle | completed before a future time | By June she'll have graduated. |
Common Future Tenses Examples in English
Grouped by what the speaker is doing, because the same job can often be done by more than one form:
Predicting
- It'll be cold in Oslo in January.
- will: a general prediction from knowledge
- Careful, that vase is going to fall.
- be going to: evidence in front of you
- I don't think they'll win.
- will after think: an opinion about the future
- By the time you read this, I'll have left.
- future perfect: complete before you read
Will and be going to are often interchangeable for predictions. Be going to insists on present evidence; will is fine for beliefs and opinions.
Planning and Arranging
- I'm going to learn to drive this year.
- be going to: an intention, no fixed date
- We're flying to Rome on the 12th.
- present continuous: booked and arranged
- She starts her new job on Monday.
- present simple: a fixed date in a schedule
- They'll be staying with us over Christmas.
- future continuous for a settled arrangement
The more fixed the plan, the more likely the present continuous: a decision is be going to, a booked flight is I'm flying.
Deciding, Offering, and Promising
- I'll have the soup, please.
- a decision made at the moment of speaking
- Don't worry, I won't tell anyone.
- a promise: will, never be going to
- Shall I carry that for you?
- an offer with shall
- I'll call you as soon as I land.
- a promise, with the present simple after as soon as
Spontaneous decisions take will because they did not exist before the sentence began; be going to would claim a prior plan.
Looking Ahead from a Future Point
- Don't call at eight, we'll be eating.
- future continuous: in the middle of it
- I'll have been here ten years next month.
- future perfect for a duration reaching a future point
- The builders will have finished by Friday.
- future perfect: complete before the deadline
- Will you be using the car tonight?
- future continuous as a polite way to ask about plans
Both forms need a future reference point (at eight, by Friday, next month) to make sense. Without one, plain will does the job.
How the Future Forms Work
The forms are easy to build; the work is in matching the form to the speaker's attitude.
Will: The Neutral Future and the Instant Decision
Will plus the base verb is the same for every subject, and its negative is will not (won't). It covers predictions, decisions made as you speak, offers, promises, and requests. Because it needs no prior plan, it is the form for reacting to what has just happened.
The phone's ringing. I'll get it.
decided at the moment of speaking
Will = decided now, or simply predicted.
Be Going To: The Plan Already Made and the Evidence Already Visible
Be going to has two jobs. It reports an intention that existed before the conversation (I'm going to start running in January), and it predicts from present signs (the sky is black, so it's going to snow). In both, something in the present already points to the future.
I'm going to start running in January. Look at the sky, it's going to snow.
an intention, then an evidence-based prediction
Going to = already decided, or already visible.
Present Tenses for Arrangements and Timetables
The present continuous describes arrangements that involve other people or bookings: I'm having lunch with Priya tomorrow. The present simple describes events fixed by a timetable or programme: Her train gets in at 12.30. Both need a future time word or a clear context.
I'm having lunch with Priya tomorrow. Her train gets in at 12.30.
an arrangement, then a timetable
Arranged = continuous. Scheduled = simple.
Future Continuous and Future Perfect Add a Viewpoint
Both fix a point in the future and look at an action from it. Will be doing means the action is in progress at that point; will have done means it is finished before that point. The time expression usually names the point: at midnight, by one, this time next year.
At midnight we'll be celebrating; by one we'll have gone to bed.
in progress at midnight, complete by one
Will be doing = during. Will have done = before.
No Will After When, If, and the Other Time Words
In a clause that begins with when, as soon as, until, before, after, or if, English uses the present simple (or present perfect) for future time. Only the main clause takes will. This is the rule learners break most often when they start using future forms.
I'll text you when the taxi arrives.
arrives, not will arrive
Will in the main clause only.
Common Mistakes with Future Tenses
Incorrect: I'll call you when I'll arrive.
Correct: I'll call you when I arrive.
After when, as soon as, until, before, after, and if, English uses the present simple for future time. Only the main clause takes will.
Incorrect: Look at those clouds. It will rain.
Correct: Look at those clouds. It's going to rain.
The prediction rests on evidence in front of the speaker, and that is exactly what be going to signals. Will is for predictions from opinion or general knowledge.
Incorrect: She will can drive next year.
Correct: She will be able to drive next year.
Two modal verbs cannot stand together. After will, can becomes be able to, must becomes have to, and may becomes be allowed to.
Incorrect: By next year I will finish my degree.
Correct: By next year I will have finished my degree.
By plus a future time asks for the future perfect, because the action is complete before that point. Will finish would place the finishing at that moment rather than before it.
Future Forms Side by Side
Each row is one future form with the verb leave and she as the subject, in the affirmative, negative, and question. Contractions in speech: she'll, she won't, she's going to, she isn't.
The six future forms with she
Will and its compounds make the negative with not after will (will not, won't) and the question by moving will in front of the subject. The two present forms follow their own tense rules.
| Pronoun | Affirmative | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| will | she will leave | she will not leave | Will she leave? |
| be going to | she is going to leave | she is not going to leave | Is she going to leave? |
| present continuous | she is leaving | she is not leaving | Is she leaving? |
| present simple | she leaves | she does not leave | Does she leave? |
| future continuous | she will be leaving | she will not be leaving | Will she be leaving? |
| future perfect | she will have left | she will not have left | Will she have left? |
Only will stays identical across subjects: I will, you will, she will. Be going to, the present continuous, and the present simple still agree with the subject: I am going to, they are leaving, he leaves.
Be going to with every subject
Like the present continuous, be going to agrees with its subject through am, is, and are.
| Pronoun | Affirmative | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | am going to leave | am not going to leave | Am I going to leave? |
| you | are going to leave | are not going to leave | Are you going to leave? |
| he / she / it | is going to leave | is not going to leave | Is he going to leave? |
| we | are going to leave | are not going to leave | Are we going to leave? |
| they | are going to leave | are not going to leave | Are they going to leave? |
In fast speech going to becomes gonna. Write going to.
Other Ways to Point to the Future
Beyond the six main forms, a few expressions add a shade of meaning: imminence, official scheduling, or a future seen from the past.
Be about to for the very near future
Am, is, or are about to + verb means the action will happen within moments. It rarely takes a time expression.
- Hurry, the film is about to start.
- any second now
- I was about to call you.
- the past form: on the point of doing it
- She's on the point of resigning.
- a slightly more formal equivalent
Not about to has a separate idiomatic meaning of refusal in informal speech: I'm not about to apologise.
Be to and be due to for official arrangements
Be to + verb states a formal arrangement or instruction; be due to + verb gives an expected time.
- The president is to visit Berlin in May.
- formal, typical of news reports
- The flight is due to land at 6.05.
- expected by schedule
- You are to wait here until I return.
- be to as an instruction
Both are common in writing and announcements and rare in casual conversation.
The future seen from the past
To report a future that lay ahead at some past moment, shift the form back: will becomes would, is going to becomes was going to, is leaving becomes was leaving.
- She said she would call.
- her words were I will call
- I was going to tell you, but I forgot.
- a past intention that did not happen
- We were meeting at six, but he cancelled.
- a past arrangement
Was going to very often implies that the plan did not happen, which makes it useful for excuses.
Quick Check: Future Tenses
Choose the most natural future form for each gap. Sometimes more than one is possible; the note explains the best fit.
1. “There's no milk.” “OK, I ___ (get) some on my way home.”
Answer: 'll get
a decision made on the spot: will
2. We ___ (have) dinner with my parents on Sunday; it's all arranged.
Answer: are having
a fixed arrangement: present continuous (be going to is also possible)
3. The exam ___ (begin) at 9.30 sharp.
Answer: begins
a timetable: present simple
4. Watch out, you ___ (drop) that.
Answer: are going to drop
a prediction from what you can see
5. Don't phone at seven, we ___ (eat).
Answer: will be eating
in progress at seven: future continuous
6. By the end of the year, she ___ (save) enough for a car.
Answer: will have saved
complete before a future point: future perfect
Future Tenses FAQs
- Does English have a future tense?
- Not in the way it has a past tense, where the verb itself changes (walk, walked). The future is expressed with auxiliaries (will, be going to) or with present tenses used for future time: I'm leaving tomorrow. The train leaves at six. Teachers still call these the future tenses for convenience, and the label is harmless as long as you remember there are several to choose from.
- What is the difference between will and be going to?
- Will is for predictions based on opinion and for decisions made as you speak: I think she'll like it. I'll answer the door. Be going to is for intentions you already have and for predictions based on present evidence: I'm going to sell the car. Look at the queue, we're going to be late. For plain predictions about the distant future, both are usually fine.
- When do I use the present continuous for the future?
- For arrangements that are already fixed, usually with other people or with a booking: I'm seeing the doctor at ten. We're flying home on Friday. A future time expression or the context makes the future meaning clear. It is not used for predictions (not It's raining tomorrow) or for things you cannot arrange.
- What is the difference between the future continuous and the future perfect?
- Both look at the future from a chosen point. The future continuous (will be + -ing) says the action is in progress at that point: At nine I'll be driving. The future perfect (will have + past participle) says the action is finished before that point: By nine I'll have arrived. The time expression usually tells you which: at with the continuous, by with the perfect.
- Is shall still used?
- In offers and suggestions with I and we it is common everywhere: Shall I help? Shall we start? As a simple future (I shall be there) it is now formal or literary in most varieties, and will has taken its place in everyday speech. In legal and official writing shall also means must: The tenant shall pay rent monthly.