ABONE OL
In English grammar, a future tense is a verb form that generally marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future. An example of a future tense form is the French aimera, meaning “will love”, derived from the verb aimer (“love”). English does not have a future tense formed by verb inflection in this way, although it has a number of ways to express the future, particularly the construction with the auxiliary verb will or shall or is/am/are going to and grammarians differ in whether they describe such constructions as representing a future tense in English.
English Grammar – I will and I’m going to
Study the difference between will and (be) going to:
Sue is talking to Helen.
Sue: Let’s have a party. Helen: That’s a great idea. We‘ll invite lots of people. -> will (‘ll): We use will when decide to do something at the time of speaking. The speakers has not decided before. The party is a new idea.
Later that day, Helen meets Dave.
Helen: Sue and I have decided to have a party. We‘re going to invite lots of people. ->(be) going to: We use (be) going to when we have already decided to do something. Helen had already decided to invite lots of people before she spoke to Dave.
Will/Shall
We use I will when we decide to do something at the timeof speaking:
- Oh, I’ve left the door open. I‘ll go and shut it.
- ‘What would you like to drink?’ ->’I‘ll have an orange juice, please.’
- ‘Did you phone Lucy?’ -> ‘Oh, no, I forgot. I‘ll phone her now.
You cannot use the present simple (I do/I go etc.) in these sentences:
- I‘ll go and shut the door (not I go and shut).
We often use I think I’ll … and I don’t think I’ll…:
- I feel a bit hungry. I think I’ll have something to eat.
- I don’t think I’ll go out tonight. I’m too tired.
Shall is used mostly in the questions shall I…?/shall we…?
We use shall I…?/shall we…? to ask somebody’s opinion (especially in offers or suggestions):
- Shall I open the window? -> Do you want me to open the window?
- I’ve got no money. What shall I do? -> What do you suggest?
- Shall we go? -> Just a minute. I’m not ready yet.
- Where shall we go this evening?
Compare shall I…? and will you…?:
- Shall I shut the door? (Do you want me to shut it?).
- Will you shut the door? (I want you to shut it).