ERC iLs In English, several different tenses are used to talk about the future: the present simple, Wie present continuous, will / shail, the future continuous and going to (>see Unit 6 for going to). 1 Present simple We use the present simple for scheduled events with a future meaning: + for timetables (planes, buses etc. leaving and arriving): My plane leaves Edinburgh on Tuesday at 11.05. My plane arrives at Amsterdam airport at 13.40. + for programmes (when a conference, a course, a football match, a film ete. begins and ends): The conference starts on Wednesday at 9.30. + for people if their plans are fixed by a timetable: The main speaker arrives on Tuesday afternoon. 2 Present continuous We use the present continuous: + for plans which have already been arranged: People are travelling from all over the world. What are you doing tomorrow evening? I'm flying to a conference in Amsterdam. (= already arranged) I'm having my eyes tested on Saturday afternoon. (= I have an appointment) 3 Will-future sill + verb ‘They'll arrive soon. will not * verbs They won'e arrive today. will ..+ verb? Will shey arrive soon? In formal English, shall is occasionally used with I/we instead of will. » For the use of shall with offers and suggestions, see Unit 13, parts 3-4. We use will: ¢ for decisions made at the moment of speaking: Pil have breakfast in my room. Pil ring them now.¢ for anything which is uncertain, especially with probably, maybe, I think, I expectand I hope: I probably won't be back in time. I think Pl get a meal in town. + for situations that we predict will happen but which are not definitely decided or arranged: In 100 years the world will be a very different place. There'll be millions more people but there won'e be as much oil available for energy. (= nobody knows definitely what the world will be Tike in 100 years) ACompare: I'm taking my History exam again tomorrow. (arranged) Till get higher marks this time. (not something which is arranged or decided in advance - a hopeful prediction) + for something in the future which doesn’t depend on a decision by the speaker: Tl be 23 on my next birthday. (= I can’t change this, it will just happen) There'll be a full moon tomorrow. 4 Future continuous will be + yerb ting She'll he working at 7.30. ‘will not be + verb +-ing She won't he working at 7.30. will... be + verb +-ing? Will she be working at 7.30? We use the future continuous for an event which is going on at a particular time in the future or over a period of time in the future: L'll be working at seven o'clock. (= 1 will start before seven and I will continue after seven) By the time you read this letter 1'0 be sailing towards Australia. A Compare: Tbe interviewing him at 6.30. (= the interview begins before 6.30 and continues afterwards) P'm interviewing him at 6.30. (= the interview is arranged to begin at 6.30)C Grammar exercises El) Underline the most suitable form of the verbs. fo = SS= = Te: [Mark ce: [Jo Subject: [Trip Why don’t you come with us to Yorkshire? It's all arranged. Jo comes /is coming (1) to my house at six so we can go to the station together. The train doesn’t leave/isn’t leaving (2) until 6.45 but we don’t want to be late. It stops/is stopping (3) a lot on the way so it doesn’t arrive/isn’t arriving (4) until three in the afternoon. We stay/are staying (8) in a youth hostel and we spend/are spending (6) five days there. We can catch a bus some of the way from the station but it doesn’t go/isn’t going (7) all the way so we have to walk the last two miles from the village. We have/are having (8) breakfast and our evening meal at the youth hostel. It’s in a beautiful spot with lots to acc. On the way back we need to set off early as there’s only one bus and it leaves/is leaving (9) at 8.30. The train back is faster so it arrives/is arriving (10) just after lunch. EB Fill in the gaps with the present continuous or the will-future of the verb in brackets. 1 ‘Tim: Where are you going? Julie: To the cinema Tim: Wait for me. I think Ll camé. 2 From next week all enquiries should be sent to Mary because Frances » (leave) on Friday. (give) Sophie a CD for her birthday. What : (you give) her? Fiona: 1. (probably get) her a new purse. She keeps losing money from her old one. cu (come) with you. 3 Rachel: 4 John: I need to finish packing today because we snnes (MOVE) tomorrow and there’s still lots to do. Peter: Don’t worry. I sa. .». (come) round tonight and help you.— 2 5 The government hopes that the national strike (not continue) after next week’s meeting, otherwise the ECONOMY em _» (not recover) for years. 6 James: Never walk under a ladder or you .. (have) ten years’ bad luck. Kay: Rubbish! 7 Details of the president’s visit are now confirmed. He .. _ (stay) at the Castle Hotel for two days. 8 Assistant: We have milk chocolate, plain chocolate, with nuts, with fruit. Man: Er... what a lot of choice. I (have) a bar of milk chocolate, please. 9 Sarah: .. (you do) anything special next Saturday? Lee: Yes, Lam. My cousin .... (arrive) from Italy so T .. (drive) to the airport in the afternoon to meet him. 10 Carol: Have you finished that book I lent you? Sam: Oh sorry. I forgot all about it. 1. . (get) it now. EB) Read the following situations. Write about what you think will happen. 1 Anna has two cousins called Rebecca Smith and Rebecca Jones. Anna gets on very well with Rebecca Smith but she doesn't like Rebecca Jones. She has received letters from her cousins asking her if they can visit. She replies to them both. She wants to see Rebecca Smith but not Rebecca Jones. Unfortunately she puts the letters in the wrong envelopes. How will her cousins feel when they receive her letters? What will happen? How will Anna feel when she finds out? “+ understand uly Arma. docs Example: | nw A tour guide has just arrived in a foreign city with a group of 30 teenagers and their teachers at the end of a long journey. They don’t know it yet but when they get to the hotel where they have booked rooms they will find that their rooms have been given to a group of elderly tourists who are already asleep in the rooms. What will happen? .... What will the hotel manager do? How will the teenagers and their teachers feel?1 Going to PY) am/is/are going 0+ verb I'm going to leave, am/is/are nor going to* verb ‘They're not going to leave, A) am/is/are... going to+ verb? Are you going to leave? Pronunciation note: going to is often pronounced gonna. You may see it spelt this way in comic books and pop songs. Itis often possible to use going 10 to express the future instead of the present continuous or will (>see Unit 5). Going to is used extremely often in everyday speech. In formal and written English will and the present tenses are used more often than going to. We use going to: + for future actions which we have already decided about. Compare: We're going to pack up our stuff, we're going to send a message to the mainland and we're going to leave. (= they already have a clear plan) Weill pack up our stuff... etc. (= she might be deciding as she speaks or it might be a simple statement of fact, not a planned action) (see Unit 5). + to predict something, when we already see evidence for our prediction: It’s going to rain soon. (= the speaker knows it’s going to rain because he can see the clouds) ‘There are many situations when either going to or will can be used with no real difference in meaning. 2 Present tenses in future clauses In clauses referring to future time and beginning with when, until, before, after, as soon as, we use: ¢ a present tense (for actions at the same time as the other verb): Everyone's going to be very surprised when you arrive. ¢ the present perfect (for actions completed before the other verb): And we're not going to talk to any reporters until we've had a long sleep. Sometimes we can usc cither a present or present perfect tense with the same meaning: We're going to eat a big hot meal as soon as we find a restaurant. We're going to eat a big hot meal as soon as we've found a restaurant3 Future in the past (was / were going to) We use was /were going to: ¢ to talk about something which was planned but did not or will not happen: You were going to stay here for at least a year. (= but now you have changed your mind) ¢ to show that we don’t mind changing our plans: Boy: Are you busy this evening? Well, I was going to write some letters. (= she may forget about the letters if he has a more interesting idea) 4 Future perfect simple and future perfect continuous will have + past participle __1’I have finished by six: o'clock. will not have + past participle He won'c have finished by. will... have + past participle? Will you have finished by s We use the future perfect simple for an action which will be complete at a point of time in the future. It is usual to mention the point in time: By the end of this week we'll have survived longer than anyone else. will have been + verb + -ing By one o'clock, ' have been waiting for three hours. will not have been + verb +-ing She won't have heen waiting for long. will. have been+ verb +-ing? Will shey have been waiting for a Tang time? We use the future perfect continuous to emphasise how long an action will have lasted up to a point in the future. It is usually necessary to mention the point of time and the length of time: | By the end of this week, we'll have been living here for six months. State verbs (> see Unit 1) are not used in the future perfect continuous. 5 To be about to am/is/are about 10+ verb ’m about ro go out. am/is/are not about 19+ verb He isn't about to go out, am/is/are ... about to+ verb? Are you about to go out? We use to be about to to talk about something which is going to happen very soon and for which we are already preparing: Actually, we're about to leave. A. In the negative, to be about to often means ‘do not intend to’ do something: We aren't about to change the rules just because you don’t like them. (= we refuse to change the rules just because you don’t like them) | a7 | iBi These are a researcher's notes, with her predictions about how the world will have changed by the year 2100. Use the notes to write sentences in the future perfect simple. LLLRLLLMG By the year 2100 1 human beings /travel /to Mars 2 the world’s population / double 3 computers / replace / most manual workers 4 we/use/all the oil resources on Earth 5 doctors /discover /a cure Sor AIDS GS scientists /invent /new sowces of energy 7 sea temperatures /rise/by several degrees 1 2 3 1 5 6 a Write three predictions of your own, using the future perfect simple. 8 g Human. peings..will have. travelled, to. Mars...EE in five of these sentences there is a verb in the wrong tense. Underline each mistake and’write the correction. 1. Trmnot going to pay you until you' have cleaned up all this mess! un. nave cleaned, 2. Before we're going to get on the train, Im going to check that we have all our luggage. 3. As soon as the guests have unpacked you can show them round the college 4 Paul will probably arrive after all the others will have started work, a 5. When you'll see Dawid, will you ask him if he wants to come to the cinema with us? 6 Toclect your things fron the cecnars whenTinin town i 7. Mongeret's going to phone as soon as she'll have found out what the tickets will cost [EB These people work in a hotel. It’s now twelve o’clock. How long will they have been working by two o'clock? Write a sentence about each person, using the future perfect continuous chef/cook meals (started work at eight o'clock) The..coe wll. have. been, codkina meals. or... NOW. secretary/ type letters (started work at ten o'clock) N oe manager / interview new staff (started work at eight-thirty) ES waitress/ stand in the dining-room (started work at eleven o'clock) a cleaner/ vacuum floors (started work at seven o'clock)EE Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Use going 10, future in the past, the present simple, about to or the future perfect. a ° ° John: Sue: Beth: Nick: Terry: Bddy: ‘Terry: Eddy: Ben: Mary: Ben: Laura: Bill: Laura: Bill: Chloe: What are your plans for the weekend? Well, we've just changed our plans, actually. ..We.sts,.00na.19..ba\ (have) (1) a barbecue on Sunday, But the weather forecast says it (be) (2) cold and windy, so we . (stay) (3) indoors and watch a video. Is it all right for you to use the boss's office while he’s on holiday? Oh, I'm sure he won't mind when he .. (find out) (4) how many cars Pve sold this week. Are you very busy this afternoon? Well, that depends on why you're asking. I (wash) (5) the car. Do you have a better idea? YES. csvnninnsnnneens (00k round) (6) the new sports club. Do you want to come? You can wash the car tomorrow. Sure, Let's go. Hurry up! We sn (miss) (7) the beginning of the concert. Don't be silly. We've got plenty of time. But it starts at nine. I want to arrive before the hall sun (get) (8) full, otherwise other people (take) (9) all the good seats by the time we're there. Do you have a moment to discuss this letter? Well, I (have) (10) something to eat, and then I (write) (11) a report. Is it urgent? Well, we ... (talk) (12) about it yesterday, but you were too busy then. I must reply to it today and I need your opinion. OK. 1... (finish) (13) my lunch by twenty past one. Can you come back then? By tng Belday DL accancmccmnnann (work) (14) in this office for three years. Nobody has ever thanked me for anything I've done, so I ... (start) (15) looking for another job!