You can express the future in different ways in English. On this page, you have an overview of the most common English tenses to talk about the future. If one refers to the future tenses, it’s usually about one of the following:
It’s important that expressing the future is less strict than expressing the present and past. Usually, people talking about the future use a mix of these tenses, depending on what they want to express. In most situations, you could use a different tense and it would still be grammatically correct.
Future tenses overview
| Will-future | Going to-future | Present simple | Present continuous | Future continuous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use | Pure future, spontaneous decisions and opinions with ‘I think’ | Opinions and predictions about or intentions towards something in the future | Timetables | Plans about something in the future | When an action will be going on in the future |
| Form | will + infinitive | To be going to + infinitive | infinitive/ infinitive + s | to be + -ing form | will + be + -ing form |
| Example | I will call an ambulance. | He’s drunk so he is going to fall over. | The train leaves at 7:45. | I am visiting the British Museum tomorrow. | They will be waiting for you after school. |
Exercises
- Future Tenses Mixed Exercise 1
- Future Tenses Mixed Exercise 2
- Future Tenses Mixed Exercise 3
- Future Tenses Mixed Exercise 4
- Future Tenses Mixed Exercise 5
