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The Meaning of Simple Future Tense
The simple future is a verb tense that’s used to
talk about things that haven’t happened yet.
It is used when an action is promised/thought to occur in the future.
The simple future refers to a time
later than now, and expresses facts or certainty. In this case there is no
'attitude'.
The tense of a verb, generally
speaking, tells us at what period in time an action or state is happening. The
particular verb tense we will look at is called simple future tense.
Simple future tense is used to
refer to events that will happen in the future.
The Future Simple tense is often called the “will tense” because we make the Future Simple with the modal auxiliary will.
How do we make the Future Simple tense?
The structure of the Future Simple tense is:
| subject | + | auxiliary will | + | main verb |
| invariable | base | |||
| will | V1 |
For negative sentences in the Future Simple tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the Future Simple tense:
| subject | auxiliary verb | main verb | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| + | I | will | open | the door. | |
| + | You | will | finish | before me. | |
| – | She | will | not | be | at school tomorrow. |
| – | We | will | not | leave | yet. |
| ? | Will | you | arrive | on time? | |
| ? | Will | they | want | dinner? |
Contraction with Future Simple
When we use the Future Simple tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and auxiliary verb:
| I will | I’ll |
| you will | you’ll |
| he will she will it will | he’ll she’ll it’ll |
| we will | we’ll |
| they will | they’ll |
In negative sentences, we contract with won’t, like this:
| I will not | I won’t |
| you will not | you won’t |
| he will not she will not it will not | he won’t she won’t it won’t |
| we will not | we won’t |
| they will not | they won’t |
How do we use the Future Simple tense?
No Plan
We use the Future Simple tense when there is no plan or decision to do something before we speak. We make the decision spontaneously at the time of speaking. Look at these examples:
- Hold on. I‘ll get a pen.
- We will see what we can do to help you.
- Maybe we‘ll stay in and watch television tonight.
In these examples, we had no firm plan before speaking. The decision is made at the time of speaking.
We often use the Future Simple tense with the verb to think before it:
- I think I’ll go to the gym tomorrow.
- I think I will have a holiday next year.
- I don’t think I’ll buy that car.
Prediction
We often use the Future Simple tense to make a prediction about the future. Again, there is no firm plan. We are saying what we think will happen. Here are some examples:
- It will rain tomorrow.
- People won’t go to Jupiter before the 22nd century.
- Who do you think will get the job?
Be
When the main verb is be, we can use the Future Simple tense even if we have a firm plan or decision before speaking. Examples:
- I‘ll be in London tomorrow.
- I’m going shopping. I won’t be very long.
- Will you be at work tomorrow?
Here's the positive form (it's just 'will' + infinitive):
- I will meet him later (I'll ..)
- You will come (you'll..)
- It will rain tomorrow (it'll)
- She will be late (she'll..)
- He will help us later (he'll..)
- We will get married in September (we'll)
- They will cook dinner (they'll..)
The short form: 'll is very, very common, and is almost always used when speaking. It's really much more natural to say 'I'll' instead of 'I will'. Here's some help with the pronunciation:
Next, here's the negative form (just add 'not' - remember will not = won't):
- I will not go (I won't ..)
- You will not be late (you won't ..)
- It will not snow tomorrow (it won't..)
- She will not get the job (she won't..)
- He will not pass the exam (he won't ..)
- We will not come (we won't..)
- They will not stop (they won't ..)
Finally, here's the question:
'yes / no' questions:
- Will I go?
- Will you come early?
- Will it be cold?
- Will she dance?
- Will he arrive soon?
- Will we cook?
- Will they leave?
'wh' questions:
- Where will I go?
- Why will you come early?
- When will it be cold?
- Who will she dance with?
- What time will he arrive?
- What will we cook?
- When will they leave?
VIDEOS
Watch the
following Videos:
VIDEO 1
VIDEO 2
VIDEO 3
Future Simple Quiz
You can do this grammar quiz. It tests what you learned on the Future Simple page.
You can do this grammar quiz. It tests what you learned on the Future Simple page.
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