Grammar guide Updated 2026-09-10

Future Forms: Will, Going To and the Present Continuous

English has no single future tense. It has four forms that share the work, and choosing between them is a question of meaning rather than grammar: decided now or decided earlier, prediction with evidence or without, arrangement or timetable. Get that choice right and your English sounds native; get it wrong and the sentence is still understandable but subtly off. This guide maps the four forms onto the four meanings.

The four future forms and what each one means

Will: decisions made now

Will is the form of the moment. You use it when the decision is being taken as you speak: The phone is ringing — I'll get it. It's cold in here; I'll close the window. It also carries offers, promises, threats and refusals: I'll help you. I won't tell anyone. I promise I'll call.

Its second job is prediction without evidence — opinions about what will happen: I think it will rain tomorrow. She'll probably be late. Because it is an opinion, will travels naturally with I think, I hope, probably, maybe, definitely.

One mechanical note: after will, the verb is always the base form. There is no will goes and no will to go.

Be going to: decisions already made

Be going to looks at a decision that exists before the conversation: We are going to move to London in the spring. I'm going to study medicine. The plan is already in your head, so you are not deciding — you are reporting.

Its second job is prediction with evidence. Something you can see or know makes the prediction: Look at those clouds — it's going to rain. She's going to fall off that wall. That contrast is the one examiners test most: will for what you believe, going to for what the world is showing you.

The form is be plus going to plus the base verb: I am going to write, he is going to write, they are going to write. In fast speech it is almost always contracted: I'm gonna — fine in speech, not in writing.

The present continuous and present simple for future arrangements

The present continuous handles fixed personal arrangements — something booked, agreed or in somebody's diary, almost always with a time or place: I am seeing the dentist at four. We are flying to Rome on Friday. She isn't coming to the party. If you can put it in a calendar, this is the form.

The present simple handles timetables and schedules — the world's calendar rather than yours: The train leaves at 6.15. The film starts at nine. Term begins on 12 September. Both of these forms are about the future, even though their names say present, because the arrangement is what matters, not the tense label.

Two more forms worth knowing

The future continuous (will be doing) describes an action in progress at a future moment: This time tomorrow I will be sitting on a beach. The future perfect (will have done) describes something complete before a future point: By June we will have finished the course. Neither is needed for A2 or B1 conversation, but both appear in reading tests.

Also worth knowing: after when, as soon as, before, after, until and if, English uses the present, not will: I'll call you when I arrive, never when I will arrive.

The mistakes learners make most often

Almost every wrong sentence in this area is one of the five below. Read the pair out loud — the wrong version then the right one — and the contrast does the teaching.

• ✘ I think she will going to be late. → ✔ I think she is going to be late.

  Will and be going to are two different forms; they are never combined. Choose one: she will be late, or she is going to be late.

• ✘ When I will see him, I will tell him. → ✔ When I see him, I will tell him.

  After when, if, as soon as and before, English uses the present simple even for future time.

• ✘ Look at those clouds! It will rain. → ✔ Look at those clouds! It is going to rain.

  The clouds are evidence you can see, so the prediction uses be going to.

• ✘ I am meet Sara on Friday. → ✔ I am meeting Sara on Friday.

  The future arrangement uses be + -ing: am meeting, is flying, are having dinner.

• ✘ She will to call you tomorrow. → ✔ She will call you tomorrow.

  Will is a modal verb: it is followed by the base verb with no to.

How to practise the future forms

Four forms with four meanings is exactly the kind of material that needs decisions, not definitions. Read a sentence, ask why the speaker chose that form, then produce it yourself.

The free future forms drill runs thirty questions of multiple choice, gap fill and listening dictation, each with an explanation of the choice. Follow it with the mixed review or today's Quiz of the Day to make sure the future forms survive next to the tenses they compete with. Teachers can print the same set as a worksheet with an answer key, or build a custom mix in the worksheet builder.

Take the Future Forms drill (30 questions) → Build a worksheet Quiz of the Day

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between will and going to?

Use will for decisions made at the moment of speaking, offers and promises (I'll get it, I'll help you) and for predictions based on opinion (I think it will rain). Use be going to for plans already decided before you speak (We are going to move) and for predictions based on evidence you can see (Look at those clouds!).

Can I use the present continuous for the future?

Yes, for fixed personal arrangements with a time or place: I am meeting Sara at seven. We are flying to Rome on Friday. The arrangement is already in the diary, which is what separates it from a plan with be going to.

Why is when I will see him wrong?

Because English does not use will after when, if, as soon as, before, after or until in a time or condition clause. Use the present simple instead: I'll call you when I arrive. If it rains, we'll stay in. The main clause still keeps will.

How many future forms does English have?

Four everyday ones — will, be going to, the present continuous and the present simple for timetables — plus two advanced forms: the future continuous (I will be sitting on a beach) and the future perfect (we will have finished by June).

Keep reading

• Timed Drills in the Classroom: How to Run Them Well
• ESL Speaking Activities: 10 Low-Prep Ideas for Class
• Printable ESL Classroom Worksheets: 8 Ways to Use Them Well

Every guide on this blog is paired with a free drill: the same rules, applied question by question, with explanations and a printable worksheet.