Talking about the future

English has no single future tense. Instead it has several ways to talk about the future, and each one tells the listener how sure or how planned it is.

1. Will: information about the future, a prediction, an offer or a promise.

• 'It will mean that you're being doubly safeguarded.'
• 'I think Kailash House will win.'
• 'I will help you with your homework after dinner.'

2. Simple present: a fixed schedule (timetables, calendars):

• 'My school reopens on 03 January.'
• 'Our flight leaves at 10 a.m. tomorrow.'

3. Present progressive: a personal plan already fixed:

• 'I am visiting my grandparents during the vacation.'
• 'We are moving into our new house next month.'

4. Going to: common in informal speech, for an intention or something you can see coming:

• 'We're going to get a new motorbike soon.'
• 'Look at those clouds, it's going to rain.'

5. Future perfect (will have + past participle): something will be finished by a future time:

• 'She will have completed the portions by next month.'
• 'They will have finished the project by the end of this week.'

6. Future progressive (will be + -ing): something will be going on at a future time:

• 'This time tomorrow I will be relaxing at home.'

Future in the past. When you tell a story about the past and need something that was still ahead then:

• 'I had no time to shop as I was leaving for Chennai in an hour.'
• 'Last time I saw you, you were going to start a new business.'
• 'In 2024, I arrived in a town where I would spend the rest of my life.'