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Essential
ENGLISH
GRAMMAR Verb tenses 3. Expressing the future in English |
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EXPRESSING THE FUTUREIf you talk to a linguist, he or she may tell you that there is no such thing as the “future tense” as far as the English language is concerned! We only have two groups of tenses; those that refer to events in past time, and those that talk about the present or the future. But let's not split hairs; for all practical purposes, English like other languages has future tenses: one of these is identical to the present tense, and the other is formed using modal auxiliaries. The present tense used as a future tenseVery often, we use a present tense in English to talk about future events: look at this short dialogue: “Where
are
you going next
summer?”
Although this dialogue clearly
refers
to the future, the verbs
are all in forms of the present. There is no “will”,
no “going
to”. “We’re staying at home. I’m working all summer!” “Oh what a pity. Don’t you even get a week off?” “Well perhaps; we may go to Wales for a couple of days.” This does not mean that using a clear future tense would be wrong; it would be possible to add the words going to to stress the future nature of events (remembering that going to is actually the present progressive tense of go .) “Where
are
you going
to go this summer?”
But in most cases, this would sound heavy.
“We’re going to stay at home; I’m going to work all summer.” “Oh what a pity. Aren’t you even going to get a week off?” “Well perhaps; maybe we'll go to Wales ....” Present forms are the simplest way of expressing future time in many cases: the present progressive often expresses non-defined time in the future, the present simple refers to instant defined moments in time, or events that will occur regularly. ► The future with "will" or "going to"A “future” with will is used to imply a deliberate predetermined action .Look at this dialogue: “Are
you coming home tonight,
darling?”
“Yes; my plane gets in at 8.15.” “O.K. then, I’ll meet you at the airport.”. A future form with will
is also
needed whenever it is necessary to avoid confusion between present and
future (for example when there is no adverb of time present) Compare: I
see / I’ll see
- I’m there / I’ll be there
Will and going to ARE NOT USED... a) With modal verbs can, must, should, could, would. If it is essential to mark the future aspect of a modal structure, it is necessary to use have to instead of must, and be able to instead of can, as in: You’ll
have to do better
next time (but you could also say: You must
do better next time.)
b) in time clauses after if,
when, as soon
as, unless, after, before, while etc. We’ll have a picnic
tomorrow
if it’s
dry.
Open the door as soon as you hear the bell. I’ll tell you the rest of the story when we get home. Generally speaking, will is not used in subordinate clauses of any type. I’ll sell it
to the first
person who makes
a good offer.
They’ll mend it for you while you wait. You’ll do whatever you’re told to do! ► The future with shallShall and the negative form shan't are not often used in modern English; more than just expressing a future action, they express a future obligation or certainty (or in the negative, a forbidding) , and are normally only used in the first person singular (with I), as in.
I shall
certainly visit the British Museum when I'm next in London.
But in both of these example, will
/ won't are quite acceptable alternatives.I shan't be able to come next week, as I'm away on business. To avoid any risk of error, the simplest principle to adopt is "never say shall". Don't use these forms! They are slightly archaic, and there is no case in which they are the only option possible. See also : Modal verbs of obligation English humour.....
(well, black humour).
It's a windy day at Brighton, on the coast of England. Suddenly, a man falls into the water. A minute later, people on the sea-wall hear him shouting: "No one shall save me, I will drown" "Oh well", says a man on the sea-wall, "Then there's no point trying to save him, if that's what he wants !" For comparison: Expressing the future in French Copyright : Website and texts © Linguapress.com 2009-2011 except where otherwise indicated |
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