Talking About The Future: Level: Intermediate

Talking about the future
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/talking-about-the-future
Level: intermediate
When we know about the future, we normally use the present tense.
1. We use the present simple for something scheduled:
We have a lesson next Monday.

The train arrives at 6.30 in the morning.
The holidays start next week.
It's my birthday tomorrow.
2. We can use the present continuous for plans or arrangements:
I'm playing football tomorrow.

They are coming to see us tomorrow.
We're having a party at Christmas.
3. We use will:
 when we express beliefs about the future:
It will be a nice day tomorrow.

I think Brazil will win the World Cup.
I'm sure you will enjoy the film.
 to mean want to or be willing to:
I hope you will come to my party.

George says he will help us.
 to make offers and promises :
I'll see you tomorrow.

We'll send you an email.
 to talk about offers and promises:
Tim will be at the meeting.

Mary will help with the cooking.
4. We use be going to:
 to talk about plans or intentions:

I'm going to drive to work today.
They are going to move to Manchester.
 to make predictions based on evidence we can see:
Be careful! You are going to fall. (= I can see that you might fall.)
Look at those black clouds. I think it's going to rain. (= I can see that it will rain.)
5. We use will be with an -ing form for something happening before and after a specific time in
the future:
I'll be working at eight o'clock. Can you come later?

They'll be waiting for you when you arrive.
6. We can use will be with an -ing form instead of the present continuous or be going to when
we are talking about plans, arrangements and intentions:
They'll be coming to see us next week.

I'll be driving to work tomorrow.
7. We often use verbs like would like, plan, want, mean, hope, expect to talk about the future:
What are you going to do next year? I'd like to go to university.
We plan to go to France for our holidays.
George wants to buy a new car.
8. We use modals may, might and could when we are not sure about the future:
I might stay at home tonight or I might go to the cinema.

We could see Mary at the meeting. She sometimes goes.
9. We can use should if we think there's a good chance of something happening:
We should be home in time for tea.

The game should be over by eight o'clock.
The future in time clauses and if-clauses
In time clauses with words like when, after, until we often use present tense forms to talk about
the future:
I'll come home when I finish work.

You must wait here until your father comes.
They are coming after they have had dinner.
In clauses with if we often use present tense forms to talk about the future:
We won't be able to go out if it is raining.
If Barcelona lose tomorrow, they will be champions.

Be careful!
We do not normally use will in time clauses and if-clauses:
I'll come home when I finish work. (NOT will finish work)

We won’t be able to go out if it rains. (NOT will rain)
but we can use will if it means want to or be willing to:
I will be very happy if you will come to my party.
We should finish the job early if George will help us.
Past simple (I worked)
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/past-simple-i-worked?
q=SIMPLE
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/past-simple
Past simple: form
For regular verbs, we add -ed to the base form of the verb (work–worked) or -d if the verb
already ends in e (move–moved).
I, she, he, it, you, we,

+ worked.
they
I, she, he, it, you, we, (full form)

they did not
− work.
(short form)
I, she, he, it, you, we, they
didn’t
work
?+ Did I, she, he, it, you, we, they
?
(full form)
Did I, she, he, it, you, we, they not
work
?–
?
(short form)
Didn’t I, she, he, it, you, we, they
In regular one-syllable verbs with a single vowel followed by a consonant, we double the final
consonant when adding -ed to make the past simple:
stop: The bus stopped suddenly.
plan: Who planned this trip?
Past simple: pronunciation of -ed
For regular verbs, there are three possible pronunciations of -ed endings.
/d/ /t/ /ɪd/
after all vowel sounds and after

voiced consonants (except /d/) after all voiceless consonants
after /d/ and /t/
(except /t/)/k/ /p/ /f/ /s/ /ʃ/ /tʃ/
/m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /l/ /g/ /dʒ/ /z/ /b/ /v/
cried, tried, hurried, weighed,

picked, hopped, laughed, decided, ended, landed,
smiled, planned, judged,
crossed, pushed, watched started, visited, waited
sneezed, lived
Past simple: irregular verbs
Many verbs are irregular. Here are some common ones. Each one has to be learnt. A full list is
provided on page 611.
The verb form is the same for all persons (I, you, she, he, it, we, they), and we make questions
and negatives with irregular verbs in the same ways as for regular verbs.
irregular
example in the past simple
verb
be She was afraid.
begin The meal began with soup.
come Everyone came to my house for the weekend.
do Look what I did!

irregular
example in the past simple
verb
eat The birds ate all of the bread.
fly We flew from New York to Mexico City.
have She had such a good time.
know We knew each other well in college.
read I read that book last year. (/red/)
sing Her sister sang a beautiful song at the party.
tell He told me a funny story.
wake When she woke up, it was already 1 pm!
I wrote him an email to explain why I couldn’t meet

write
him.
Past simple: uses
Definite time in the past

We use the past simple to talk about definite time in the past (often we specify when something
happened, e.g. yesterday, three weeks ago, last year, when I was young):
Did you watch that film yesterday?
He left at the end of November.
When they were young, they hated meat.
Single or habitual events or states

We use the past simple to talk about single or regular (habitual) events or states in the past.
He fell off his bike and his friends took him to a doctor.

Events that happened once
She ran out and she phoned my brother.
They travelled to Italy every summer and always stayed in

Events that happened more small villages on the coast.
than once
As children, we played all kinds of games on the street.
She looked a bit upset.

States
Did you feel afraid?
When we use the past simple to refer to habitual events, the meaning is similar to used to:
I did a lot of travelling when I was younger. (or I used to do a lot of travelling when I was
younger.)
The past simple with no time reference

Sometimes there is no time expression when the past simple is used. This happens especially
when we know the time:
Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa. (From our general knowledge, we know that
Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa a few hundred years ago.)
Compare
Do you know Grace? She was in my class at Do you know Grace? She was in my class
primary school. at primary school in the 70s.
Past simple without a definite time reference: Past simple with a definite time reference:
both speakers know when this time was and do the speaker is not sure if the listener knows
not need to say it. They know each other well. when she was at primary school.
Past simple and the order of events

When one past event happens after another, the first one mentioned in the past simple happened
first and the second one happened next, and so on. If we change the order of the verbs, this
changes the meaning.
Compare
[event 1]I turned off the

light and [event 2]got into bed.
The first event in the past simple happened first. The
second event in the past simple happened second, and so
on.
[event 1]I got into bed and [event
2]turned off the light.

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Talking about the future

When we know about the future, we normally use the present tense.

1. We use the present simple for something scheduled:

We have a lesson next Monday.

2. We can use the present continuous for plans or arrangements:

I'm playing football tomorrow.

 when we express beliefs about the future:

It will be a nice day tomorrow.

 to mean want to or be willing to:

I hope you will come to my party.

 to make offers and promises :

I'll see you tomorrow.

 to talk about offers and promises:

Tim will be at the meeting.

4. We use be going to:

 to talk about plans or intentions:

 to make predictions based on evidence we can see:

I'll be working at eight o'clock. Can you come later?

They'll be coming to see us next week.

8. We use modals may, might and could when we are not sure about the future:

I might stay at home tonight or I might go to the cinema.

9. We can use should if we think there's a good chance of something happening:

We should be home in time for tea.

The future in time clauses and if-clauses

I'll come home when I finish work.

We do not normally use will in time clauses and if-clauses:

I'll come home when I finish work. (NOT will finish work)

Past simple: form

I, she, he, it, you, we,

I, she, he, it, you, we, (full form)

Past simple: pronunciation of -ed

For regular verbs, there are three possible pronunciations of -ed endings.

/d/ /t/ /ɪd/

after all vowel sounds and after

cried, tried, hurried, weighed,

Past simple: irregular verbs

begin The meal began with soup.

come Everyone came to my house for the weekend.

do Look what I did!

eat The birds ate all of the bread.

fly We flew from New York to Mexico City.

have She had such a good time.

know We knew each other well in college.

read I read that book last year. (/red/)

sing Her sister sang a beautiful song at the party.

tell He told me a funny story.

wake When she woke up, it was already 1 pm!

I wrote him an email to explain why I couldn’t meet

Past simple: uses

Definite time in the past

Single or habitual events or states

He fell off his bike and his friends took him to a doctor.

They travelled to Italy every summer and always stayed in

She looked a bit upset.

The past simple with no time reference

Past simple and the order of events

[event 1]I turned off the

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