Try and notice which tenses I use in the
following: my sister is coming tonight.
She gets in at 5:10. I'm picking her
up and then we're going to get dinner.
I used three different tenses there to
talk about the future and we're going to
talk about each one right now. The first
thing I said was this: my sister is
coming tonight. My sister is coming
tonight. Now, which tense is this? It is
the present continuous. We tend to use
the present continuous when talking
about the future when we're talking
about future arrangements - when we have
something planned and fixed. I said my
sister is coming tonight because she
already has plane tickets. This has been
arranged. So, that is why I used this
tense. You might have also noticed that i
said: I'm picking her up. I'm picking her
up.
This simply means that I'm going to drive to
the airport and collect her, but again, I
used the present continuous because this
is fixed. I have arranged this with my
sister. I actually arranged it through
WhatsApp. Here are two more examples to
help you understand how to use the
present continuous when talking about
the future. The first one is this: Paul is
working tonight. Paul is working tonight.
So, this means he has arranged to work or
maybe his boss told him that he had to
work but regardless, this is a fixed plan.
He has to start at a specific time and
that's why he's saying: I'm working
tonight. Here's another one: we're having
dinner with friends on Friday. So, again
this is an arrangement. We spoke to our
friends and we have arranged to have
dinner - it's a fixed plan.
We're going to look at some more examples in a moment
and how this compares with another tense
that we use to talk about the future
but you'll also notice that I said: she
gets in at 5:10. She gets in at 5:10
Now, what tense is that? What tense
am I using here? It is the present simple.
The present simple. So, we can use the
present simple to talk about the future
too. Now, this one is more specific to
certain things and we use it when we're
talking about things on a timetable or
on as scheduled. Flights are a perfect
example of this: her flight gets in at 5:10 It's on a timetable - it's on a
flight schedule, so, we can use the
present simple to talk about it in this
way. Another example is that you might
hear the owner of a coffee shop or a
restaurant or anything really saying
that we open tomorrow at 7:30 AM. wWe open
tomorrow at 7:30 AM. This is on a schedule
and that's why we can use the simple
present here. Another example is: the
movie starts at eight. The movie starts
at eight. So again, movies are on a
timetable and a schedule. This movie
starts at eight o'clock. It's the same
time for everyone. You can't change this.
So, the movie starts at eight. Be careful
when using this tense because it is only
used for this specific reason. Let's have
a look at the third tense now. At the
start of the video, I also said: we're
going to get dinner. We're going to get
dinner. Now, to get dinner means to eat
out it - suggests that you're going to
either eat out or pick up some food
somewhere. So, after I pick my sister up,
we're going to get dinner .So, here I used
the phrase: be going to. Be going to.
And this is a great phrase to know in
English because speakers use it all the
time. It's such a common phrase and it's
probably the most common way to talk
about the future. And we use this when we
want to show intention. This is an
important word: intention. It can be used
for fixed plans - like the present
continuous - but it usually puts the focus
on intention. Right now, my sister and I
don't have any fixed plans. We're not
sure where we're going to go to get
dinner. We're not sure at what time we're
going to eat. That's why I used going to.
We have the intention to get dinner
somewhere but we don't have fixed plans
right now. Another example of this is
something I see in my emails from
English learners is this: I'm going to
take the IELTS exam this summer. I'm
going to take the IELTS exam this summer.
Now, this shows the intention of the
speaker. This learner is going to take
the IELTS exam this summer. They have the
intention to do this. However, if you say:
I'm taking the IELTS exam this summer -
using the present continuous - this
suggests that you already have a fixed
date.
So, you can see the difference there... be
going to shows your intention. You don't
have that fixed date yet and that's what
it suggests. But when you use the present
continuous, it suggests that you already
have a date and a time for the exam.
Another example of be going to is this:
we're going to visit my wife's family
this spring. We're going to visit my
wife's family this spring.
I'm using going to because we don't have
any fixed plans yet. We intend to go. This
is our intention, but we haven't arranged
something specific. That's why we're
using be going to. And one more, and this
is an important one to know. I'm going to
clean the house before my sister arrives.
And with activities like housework
studying etc., we tend to use going to. So,
with activities ,we tend to use going to.
For example: Sarah can't make it to the
party because she's going to study for
her exam. So, when using study or clean -
those types of verbs - try to use be going
to. In most cases, it will be correct. So,
that is an overview of how to use be
going to, the simple present and the
present continuous to talk about the
future. But just knowing this isn't
enough. You need to get lots of practice.
So, what I recommend you do is that when
you see an example of one of these
tenses, then use the sentence method to
help you get the repetition, so that you
can internalize the use of these tenses.
And to learn more about the sentence
method, just click over here: I have a
free guide for you. Now, if you've watched
this far, then please give this video a
thumbs up and share it with one of your
friends. And feel free to leave an
example below using one of the tenses.
I'll have more examples in the
description. Thank you so much for
watching - it's great to have you here and
I'll speak to you soon.