PRACTICAL GRAMMAR - THE FUTURE

Year: II & III

Course: part - time system

Time: 60:00 min

1. WAYS OF REFERRING TO THE FUTURE

In English we have several ways of referring to the Future. We got at least 12 ways to express directly (less directly, indirectly) future plans or arrangements. The most common of these are:

1. Will form - to express decision made on the spot/ immediate decision or to describe a definite future action (i) I`ll just go and get something to eat in the city;

2. Will - to express general prediction (ii) You will get cold if you stay outside for a long time;

3. The be going to form - to express personal intention - (i) I am going to study architecture;

4. The be going to form - to express prediction but after looking what is happening now - (ii) Watch out! We are going to have a head - on collision!

5. Present Simple and Present Continuous - to express formal/ informal, personal future plans & arrangements - (i) We are meeting at Time Square at six (foxed arrangement); (ii) The coach leaves at six (with timetables, schedules and programs)

6. Will + continues (Future Continuous Tense) - (i) Don`t phone to early because I`ll be putting the baby to bed; (ii) We`ll be working on this project until the end of the month.

7. Will + Perfect (Future Perfect) - (i) We`ll have overcome several obstacles by the time we achieve it;

8. Will + Perfect Continuous (Future Perfect Continuous) - (i) We will have been living here for 30 years next May;

9. To be to form to express future formal and official arrangements or expectation/obligations: (i) He is to be given a Pulitzer Prize; (ii) You are to stay until you have finished writing you essay.

10. TIME EXPRESSIONS: tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the next day, next time, this time, in the future, in 100 years, probably, maybe, supposedly, assumingly, at 7.30, in one hour, now, by the time, as soon as, till/until, on Tuesday, on Saturday afternoon, in due course, from now on.

11. COMMON PHRASES REFERRING TO THE FUTURE: to be about to (in a very short time), to be bound to, to be to, to be on the point of something, to be likely to happen, in a due curse (w następnej kolejności), for the foreseeable future (w najbliższej przyszłości), I wonder what the future has in store/ what lies ahead (co nas czeka), from now on, the time is fast approaching when, a feeling of impending doom.

12. Will / shall

Informal / highly formal form: (i) Shall I / we open the window? (polite offers or asking for advice). In some contexts shall can be used instead of will: (ii) Last night our expedition started walking across the rocky Himalayas. By such harsh weather conditions I am afraid that all of them shall perish.

2. FUTURE SIMPLE & CONTINUOUS

Future Tenses do not normally exist in English, but we still distinguish 4 of them (+ Future Perfect Simple & Continuous)

1. Future Simple

1. I will go to the doctor tomorrow (expressing our plans & arrangements, will of future decisions)

2. I am going to the doctor tomorrow (fixed or formal future arrangements)

2. Future Continuous

1. I will be working on my MA thesis tomorrow (I am sure about this action) Also, Future Continuous expresses longer activities in the future than that of Future Simple.

3. ANALYSES - What is the difference between the two sentences in each example?

1. We won`t resign (for sure)

2. He is not going to resign (he doesn`t want to, but maybe it happens once….)

3. My train leaves at six (habitual action)

4. My train is leaving at six (exceptional future arrangement)

5. I leave tomorrow

6. I am leaving tomorrow

7. I will study architecture at the technical college of Gedania (after my entrance exams)

8. I am going to study at the technical college of Gedania (shy plans and probable dreams)

9. By six o`clock we will have covered 50 kilometers.

10. During this time we will have been covering our distance of 50 kilometers.

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