will-future
example: I think I will meet her tomorrow.
I think I won't meet her tomorrow.
Will it rain next week?
rule: We use the will-future when we
want to
a) talk about future actions we
can't influence or control
b) foretell future actions/ express
hopes, fears, promises, ....
c) express a spontaneous
reaction/ decision.
form:
positive sentence: will + 1st form of verb
negative sentence: will+ not + 1st form of verb
question: will(+not)+ 1st form of verb
signal words: e.g. tomorrow (for future), think/hope/expect, maybe, possibly (for will),...
ATTENTION:
"will" = future form!!!; "Ich will..." = "I want...".
going to future
example: I'm going to meet her tomorrow.
I'm not going to meet her tomorrow.
Are you going to meet her tomorrow?
rule: We use the going-to-future when we
want to
a) talk about future plans/
intentions
b) things that are most likely
going to happen.
("Careful, you're going to fall.")
form:
positive sentence: form of to be + going to
+1st form of verb
negative sentence: form of to be+not+ going to
+1st form of verb
question: form of to be(+not)+going to
+ 1st form of verb
signal words: e.g. tomorrow (for future),
plan/intend, and look at the
context. (for going to),...
present progressive with future meaning
example: I'm meeting her tomorrow at 8 pm.
rule: We use the present progressive with
future meaning when we want to
talk about future things that are
fixed, planned or definitly decided.
form:
see Present Progressive.
signal words: no real signal words. Have a look
at the context of the sentence.
future progressive
example: I will be meeting her on Monday at
8 pm.
rule: We use the future progressive when we
want to talk about future things that
a) happen on a regular basis (above: I
meet her every Monday at 8pm).
b) are in process at a certain point in
the future. ("Tomorrow at this time, I'll be lying at the beach.")
form:
positive sentence: will + be+ing-form of verb
(rarely used:
negative sentence: won't+be+ing-form of verb
question: will/won't+be+ ing-form of verb)
signal words: no real signal words. Have a look
at the context of the sentence.
future perfect
example: She will have travelled to Italy
before she gets married.
She won't have travelled to Italy
Will she have travelled to Italy
before she gets married?
rule: We use the Future Perfect when
we want to talk about something
that will occur before another
action in the future. It can also
show that something will
happen before a specific time in
the future.
form:
positive sentence: will+have+3rd-form of verb
negative sentence: won't+have+3rd-form of verb
question: will/won't+have+ 3rd-form
of verb
signal words: no real signal words. Have a look
at the context of the sentence.
NOTE:
"will" and "going to" can both be used in the future perfect without creating a difference in meaning.
future perfect progressive
example: We will have been playing video
games for two hours by the time
we will get bored.
We won't have been playing video
games for two hours by the time
we will get bored.
Will you have been playing video
games for two hours by the time
you will get bored?
rule: We use the Future Perfect
Progressive to show that
something will continue up until a
certain event or time in the future.
form:
positive sentence: will+have+been+ing-form of
the verb
negative sentence: won't+have+been+ing-form
of the verb
question: Will/won't+have+ing-form
of the verb
signal words: no real signal words. Have a look
at the context of the sentence.
NOTE:
"will" and "going to" can both be used in the future perfect without creating a difference in meaning.