Future tenses in English

Subject index:

Using the present tense

Using will and going to

Using shall

Negative forms

Forms of the future in English

One of the common ways to express future time in English is to use the present tense.

 Although there is a "future tense" which is formed by using the modal auxiliary will, or occasionally shall, there are many situations in which it is not necessary to use either of these. If other elements in a sentence, such as an adverb like tomorrow, clearly refer to future time, then it may well not be necessary to use a specific future tense. A present tense will do.
  Will vs. going to .  Another option for expressing the future is to use the verb form going to. For more details on when to use going to, see below.

Note: current linguistic theory often describes English as a language with only two tenses, the present and the past. This is one among many ways of defining tenses in English. In the world of language teaching, English grammar is far more easily explained using historic six-tense or twelve-tense models, considering tense as a semantic category. There is no absolute truth, as there is no universal definition of what the word tense actually means in English. See How many tenses does English have?

1. The present tense used as a future tense

Very often, we use a present tense in English to talk about future events: look at this short dialogue:
Although this dialogue clearly refers to the future, the verbs are all in forms of the present. There is no “will", no "going to". This use of the present tense to express future time can be viewed in two possible ways:

You can choose whichever explanation you prefer. They are both valid.

 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 .)
But in most cases, this would sound heavy. 
 Present forms are often 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. 

2.â–º The future with "will" or "going to"

On its own in a sentence, a "future" with will is used to imply a deliberate, planned or predetermined action .
Look at this dialogue:

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), or to express planned events, even if an adverb of time is present.

 It may also be required in order to underline the future nature of an action or situation. Compare:

Will and going to ARE NOT USED  in two specific cases :
IMPORTANT ! A future with will is NEVER USED in subordinate clauses of time or condition
Generally speaking, will is not used in subordinate clauses  when futurity is marked by the verb in the main clause. Except in some relative clauses, it is very unusual to find a future tense in both the main clause and a subordinate clause.

2.2  Going to

Going to is used to stress a certainty or intention, and is essentially used in spoken English.
Note that the colloquial contraction gonna is never normally used in written English, but is common in spoken English except in formal style. More than a contracted form of going to, it is a phonetic condensation of the two words as one, with a range of pronunciations including [gɔnə], [gənə] or even [gə:ntə], and many speakers do not even notice when they condense the two words.

2.3  is to / are to:

Future actions can also be expressed using the auxiliary be, most commonly with the forms Is to / are to . Stylistically this is rather formal, and is used to express planned or commanded  future events. â–º For more on to be as a modal verb, seer To be - modal

3. â–º The future with shall

Shall 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.
But in both of these example, will / won't are quite acceptable alternatives.
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.
       â–º See also : Modal verbs of obligation

For the future perfect tense (as in They will have finished before midnight), see past tenses

4.â–º Negative forms of the future 

These should not cause any problem for learners of English..

For negative forms of the present tense used with a future meaning, see the present tense.

• The negative forms of will are won't or will not
• The negative forms of going to are not going to, with full or contracted forms of the auxiliary.
• The negative forms of shall are shan't or shall not.

Future forms of verbs in the passive

See The Passive


For comparison:  Expressing the future in French

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