Today on LetThemTalkTV we are going to look
at all the future forms and we are going to go deep, deep, deep into all the rules so
hopefully you won't make any more mistakes. Now, as I'm sure you know there are many ways
of expressing a future in English and here they all are in one gigantic, fantastic
video everything you need to know about the future in English are you ready? Let's
go. Today you will learn the following: present simple for the future. WILL and SHALL.
Going to. present continuous for the future. comparisons between the different future
tenses. We'll also correct common mistakes and we'll look at some other forms such as
the infinitive for the future and some common expressions we use to talk about the future
and I've divided the video up into chapters so that you can go to the parts that interest
you most or watch it all. By the way, English has no future tense it has a present tense,
past tense, a present perfect tense but there is no future form of the verb so that's why we
call them future forms rather than future tenses also bear in mind that I won't be looking at
compound tenses today such as the future perfect that I'll do in a different video.
So let's start with the simplest, the present simple for the future
and we use this for scheduled events, timetables and things that always happen at a
certain point in the future from the perspective of the present. Let's look at some examples of
that; "the train leaves at 9:30.” “The show starts at 8pm.” “The meeting begins at 4pm.” “It's
my birthday tomorrow.” And of course we can use it in questions too “when does the meeting
start?” “When is your birthday?” There you are. The present tense - we don't use it much except
for schedules and facts. If I say “I leave for India next Thursday.” This is correct - sounds a
little bit strange but you might say it if you're consulting your personal timetable OK and we'll
look at other forms in a moment and compare it to this too so we've done that so let's move on to
WILL and SHALL. WILL and SHALL have a conjugation and it's like this: I shall or will you will
he she it will we shall I will they will we'll have a look at some examples but first of all why
why have I put WILL in brackets next to I and WE? OK that's because in spoken English and
sometimes in written English too we often use WILL even though the conjugation says SHALL
there are some exceptions to that so do be careful also, as I'm sure you are aware, there is
a contracted form I'll, he’ll we’ll etc which is the same for WILL and SHALL the
contracted negative is of WILL NOT is WON’T and the negative or SHALL SHALL NOT is SHAN’T now
you won't hear SHAN’T very much in spoken English and, even in written English, it's not that common
but it's important to be aware that it exists in case you come across it. OK so when we do use
WILL: To give or request information about the future, to talk about facts, to make predictions
but be careful because sometimes we use GOING TO to make predictions. I'll come to that later. To
make promises, to make decisions at the time of speaking, to make threats and to make offers
and requests. So let's look at some examples of each of those cases. So giving information
about the future. “John will be here tomorrow.” “Will you be at the meeting? [a question about the
future]. To make personal predictions and often this goes after words such as I think, I believe,
or I reckon, “I think she'll be late again”. “I reckon she'll pass the exam if she studies
hard.” To make promises “I'll call you back.” “I won't be late again.” “We'll do that next
time.” to make decisions at the time of speaking. “Ah it's closed, we'll have to go somewhere else.”
“oh no! I missed the train. I'll get a taxi.” So think about it like this, whenever you
say “um, ah, I know, it's usually followed by WILL because it's a new idea, it's a new
decision. so for example’ “no doughnuts ah! I'll get a croissant.” “what should I do? I know
I'll invite her to the theatre.” There you are new decisions OK um use it to make offers use WILL
to make offers “I'll make breakfast this morning.” “You look confused, I'll explain everything.” OK
to make requests with WILL YOU will you help me with this will you give me an answer by thursday
you could use can or could in these situations but it's not exactly the same WILL here is not really
a question in fact it's not really even a future tense it's more a polite imperative so instead of
saying open the door add WILL to sound more polite “will you open the door?” Sometimes you don't
need to follow it with a question mark because it's not really a question. You can also use
WILL to make threats: “If you do that again I'll call the police.” “If you don't watch
the end of this video I'll do something.” in the above examples I use contractions now
if you're stressing WILL or SHALL you don't need a contraction for example “I will call the
police if you do that again.” or “I shall call the police if you do that again.” if you prefer,
SHALL is perfectly correct here and you might hear it sometimes but as I said it's usually WILL in
spoken English. The exception is SHALL is used in formal written English where you might see SHALL
quite often and even there even in formal written English. You can still contract it so I'LL instead
of I SHALL and yes by the way yes you can use you can use contractions in formal written English.
It's kind of a myth that you shouldn't if you want more information you should see the video
I made about that up here and there is one case where you use SHALL in spoken English and that's
for making offers and suggestions for example; “shall we go?” not “will we go” no. “Shall
we meet next week?” Do you remember I said that you use WILL to make an offer “I'll make
you breakfast” but if you turn the offer into a question you do it with SHALL and NOT WILL to look
at the example we saw earlier. “Shall I make you breakfast?” “You look confused, shall I explain?”
“Shall I ask Edith if she wants to join us?” “You can't use WILL here because it will look like
you're asking IF something is going to happen. “Will I make breakfast?” “I don't know, will
you?” so “Shall I make breakfast?” for an offer so use SHALL to make an offer in a question form.
Now WILL and SHALL for commands and emphatic speech this is a super advanced part and it's
only occasionally used so feel free to skip this part and move on to the next section
if there is too much detail but if you're still here you're interested in this advanced
stuff then let's look at it. So we looked at earlier the conjugation of WILL and SHALL
but this conjugation is reversed for commands emphatic speech and for intent. so the
conjugation in those cases goes like this: I will, you shall, we will, he/she/it shall,
they shall. OK we look at some examples; "I will win the race.” “You
shall get what you want.” “they shall not pass.” Now, that's a
famous slogan that's been used many times in a war when defending against the enemy or
indeed “you shall not pass” “you shall not pass.” You will often see this shall in legal documents
for example; “the buyer shall be responsible for the upkeep and the management of the
communal area.” We will return to will later when we compare it to GOING TO and other
future forms. Let's look at GOING TO. GOING TO is used to express plans for the future and
predictions based on science and what's obvious. Let's look at plans and decisions. First,
remember that we said that we use WILL to talk about decisions you make in the moment.
Well, with GOING TO it's about plans you made before speaking or writing. I'll give you
some examples but remember that GOING TO is often pronounced GONNA when we are speaking
quickly. GONNA is not a slang form by the way it's perfectly correct and expected in
fluent speech even formally but it's not a written form it's only a spoken form. Anyway
let's look at some examples with GOING TO “one day I'm going to travel the world.”
“If she quits her job she's going to move to Tokyo.” when I say plans it doesn't
have to be a big life-changing plan, not all so for example; “I'm going to have a
glass of water.” OK we also use GOING TO to make predictions based on science and we'll compare it
with WILL for predictions in a moment but first let's look at a couple of examples; "she's gonna
have a baby.” Now science tells me that that is what happens to women who are pregnant. “The
weather forecast says it is going to rain.” “You know, if you don't tie up your shoelaces you're
going to trip over.” OK it's based on science not a personal opinion that's what happens when
you walk around with shoelaces that are untied. Now let's move on to the present continuous for
the future. We use the present continuous for the future to talk about appointments and arrangements
we've made and things that you believe are certain to happen OK this future is sometimes called
the diary future because when we're looking at our appointments diary you'll express what's in
there with the present continuous for the future to construct it you need the present continuous
and a time reference although this is often just implied let's look at some examples
of that; "I'm flying to Germany tonight” so you've got present continuous “I'm flying to
Germany” and a time reference tonight when do you use this you use it to say that it's certain at
least in your mind you already have the boarding pass perhaps another example “I can't go to work
tomorrow because I'm having my wisdom teeth out.” OK I have an appointment with the dentist.
“I'm meeting Anna at 2pm on Tuesday at Café Joe.” You can use it in the negative to
say what you haven't got in your diary. “No, I'm not doing anything
on Saturday night, why?” “You know we're not going to Spain
this summer. The trip was cancelled due to the pandemic.” And of course you can use it
in questions, “What are you doing next Tuesday?” A time reference is normally in the sentence.
However, it can be omitted if it's clear that it's something certain to
happen from the context. For example; "she's selling her house and moving to Alaska.”
You don't normally use this type of future tense when there is uncertainty such as after words like
I think, I hope, I believe or reckon. There could be exceptions but it's unlikely with those words
you're more likely to use WILL or GOING TO. Now let's compare the different future forms. First
of all it's important to remember that sometimes there is more than one way to express a
sentence with a future meaning correctly. OK so don't panic if you're not sure, just
put what you think sounds most natural and you're probably right. Remember that most
native speakers won't know these rules, well they'll know them instinctively but they won't
have learnt all the grammar as you're learning today. Of course the grammar helps and will speed
up your understanding but the best way as with any grammar is just to speak a lot listen a lot
and read a lot and get a feel for it and that's the best way of course to learn this stuff
but anyway let's have a look at an example; “he's arriving this evening.” “He'll arrive this
evening.” “He's going to arrive this evening.” “He arrives this evening.” Which is correct?
Well all of them are correct. Actually there is little difference between them. At least for
the listener. We could go through them one by one. “He's arriving this evening.” He's got the ticket,
he's on the way. That's a diary in the future. “He'll arrive this evening”. I'm giving
information about the future. “He's going to arrive this evening.” This is the plan. “He
arrives this evening.” I've seen the schedule and this is when he'll be here but let's look at
some cases where the meanings are different first of all WILL and GOING TO if something's planned
in advance use GOING TO if it's a new idea use WILL for example; " I'm gonna have a cheeseburger
fries and ice cream.” - “Aren't you supposed to be on a diet?” - “Oh, OK, yeah I'll have um a vegan
salad and I'll have a mineral water.” Then “OK in order to save money and help the
environment I'm going to sell my car and buy a bicycle.” Notice, by the way, in that example,
that GOING TO covers both the verb SELL and BUY or you could say. “I've got a brilliant idea,
I'll sell my car and buy a bicycle and that way I'll help the environment.” This is obviously
a new idea now we've already seen that you can use both GOING TO and WILL to make predictions but
in different ways use WILL when the prediction is your opinion and GOING TO when the science or the
situation tells you what will happen. with WILL we often use predictions with words like think or
believe or in conditionals with IF so for example; "he made a lot of mistakes but I think he'll do
better next year.” “I'm sure the party will be a big success.” “If I train every day I'll be
able to run the marathon.” So these are personal predictions with GOING TO it's the science.
“The company is losing money and at this rate it's going to be bankrupt within six months.” “the
train has broken down and we are going to be late” OK that's what happens when trains break down
sometimes both are possible is it a personal prediction or is it science so for example;
"within 10 years cars will be driverless.” that's my opinion from what I know “within 10
years all cars are going to be driverless.” It's a scientific fact that I read in a magazine
“if you eat like that you'll get fat.” “If you eat like that you're gonna get fat.” both
are correct we often use WILL after if but GOING TO is also possible are we making a
personal prediction or a scientific prediction based on your knowledge of overeating. OK so
both are possible look at these sentences: “One day I'll be famous.” “One
day I'm going to be famous.” Is it a personal prediction with WILL
or a plan for the future with GOING TO so you see sometimes more than one form can
be correct. If you see clouds in the sky you could say “I think it'll rain soon.” That's my
opinion from what I see or you could say “I think it's going to rain.” My knowledge of meteorology
and dark, grey clouds tells me that this is what's going to happen but what you cannot say is “she's
pregnant she will have a baby in seven months.” It's never your opinion OK you're talking about
future facts “She's going to have a baby in seven months.” That's the only correct way to say
it because that's what the science tells us. “We've run out of fuel and we're going to crash.”
That's the only correct way to say it. It can only be a prediction based on science. let's look at
the difference between GOING TO versus the present continuous or the future remember GOING TO
is about plans and the present continuous is about appointments or arrangements so the
difference is mostly in the degree of certainty so for example; "I'm going to visit New York this
summer.” “I'm visiting New York this summer.” In the second case you probably got the ticket OK
“I'm going to see my girlfriend on Friday night.” it's a plan “I'm seeing my girlfriend on friday
night I've made the arrangements with her.” There is one exception to this: we often drop the
second GO in a GOING TO future so for example; "I'm going to the cinema tonight.” That's the
present continuous for the future it's not the GOING TO future because there is
only one verb: you have your ticket, it's an arrangement. It's the
present continuous for the future but what about this; “when I have
enough money I'm going to Australia.” It's a plan you don't have the ticket so it
should be “when I have enough money I'm going to go to Australia.” Which is perfectly correct
and we often say it like that but sometimes some people don't like to have two GOs in one sentence
so we change the GOING TO GO to GOING TO. So let's look at some common mistakes and let's see if
you can correct them “What will you do tonight?” Is that correct? We're asking about what's
in your diary. What arrangements you made so the correct sentence is “What are you doing
tonight?” “I will fly to Tokyo tomorrow morning.” Is that correct? No, once again it's about your
arrangements. If you have the ticket you'd say “I'm flying to Tokyo tomorrow morning.” “I'm
thirsty. I will have a glass of orange juice.” Is that correct? No, you know it isn't, It's
“I'm thirsty. I'm going to have a glass of orange juice.” It's a plan even though it's a small
plan and with plans you use GOING TO. However, if you make a new decision then you can use
WILL. “What! They don't have orange juice. OK I'll have pineapple juice.” Next one,
“I've eaten 12 doughnuts. I will throw up.” Throw up by the way means to vomit. Is it
correct? No, not correct. We're making a prediction here and science tells me the evidence
tells me if you eat lots and lots of doughnuts you are going to throw up. OK it's a scientific
prediction. “I'm going to throw up.” “Don't worry I'm going to do this for you tomorrow.” Is that
correct sounds a little strange. If you're making a promise you're more likely to use WILL “Don't
worry I'll do this for you tomorrow, I promise.” Next one “I call you tomorrow.” “I call you
tomorrow.” Is that correct? No you know it isn't. This is a mistake you usually use the
present simple to talk about things that happen regularly “I work every day.” But you don't use
it for a future tense OK. You don't use a present simple for a future tense exception is a timetable
but this is not a timetable it's either a promise or it's giving information about the future so the
correct sentence would be “I'll call you tomorrow, I promise.” “I'll call you tomorrow.” in
the same way we say “I'll let you know.” and not “I let you know.” “I'll tell you later.”
and this is a very common mistake that I hear extremely often so do learn it. Next one.
“Give him the book when he will arrive.” Not correct. We don't normally put WILL after
when statements so the correct sentence is “give him the book when he arrives.” Here
are some other ways to talk about the future: the infinitive for the future. Now I left
this till last because we rarely use it in spoken English. However, we do use it to discuss
events and things that are scheduled to happen and you'll often see it in newspapers and often
in the headlines so let's look at some examples; "The president is to visit Thailand next
month.” OK this is in his schedule. “Bigwig Airlines is to open a new route to Asia.” When the
infinitive for the future is used in a headline the verb TO BE is often omitted and looking
at those examples we just used “President to visit thailand next month.” “Hurricane
to hit Florida in the next 24 hours.” Now, if you're not familiar with newspaper headlines
in English I do suggest that you learn it and go and check some uh English newspapers
English language newspapers and you'll see that it's used quite often there. Finally here
we have a few English expressions that we use with a future meaning so let's have a look at
those. First of all TO BE ABOUT TO plus infinitive that this means something is going to
happen very soon or almost immediately OK and it's a very common expression “I'm
about to leave.” “Can you call me back? I thought it was a joke and I was about to laugh
when I realized she was serious.” Of course, in that sentence we’re looking at the future
from the perspective of the past. Next we have ON THE BRINK OF/ON THE VERGE OF and I'm putting
these together because they have a pretty similar meaning they both mean that something dramatic
something big is going to happen either positive or negative so for example; "we are on the
verge of finding a cure for the common cold.” “The two countries are on the brink of war.”
BOUND TO + infinitive which we used to say that something is inevitable given what I know.
“You're working with people who have no interest in this project so it's bound to fail.” “I
don't like him but in the present situation yes I'm afraid he is bound
to be elected as president.” I hope you found that useful let us know in the
comments if I've left something out or if there's something you want me to cover in a future video
stay mellow and do your thing I'm out of here
