The Future Tense
The Future Tense :
Use the future tense for things that have not happened yet, but are going to happen. Use the verbs shall and will as helping verbs or auxiliary verbs to form the future tense.
I shall be eight years old next year.
They will finish the job next week.
The weatherman says it will rain this afternoon.
We shall play a game of chess after lunch.
You will be sick if you eat too much.
I hope it won’t rain tomorrow.
Sharon is ill. She will not be at the party.
You will enjoy visiting New Zealand.
Dad will be back for dinner.
He will make lots of friends at his new school.
Use shall or will with I and we.
Use will with you, he, she, it and they.
Here is a table to help you remember the rules.
First person Singular….I shall
First person Plural….we shall
Second person Singular….you will
Second person Plural….you will
Third person Singular…. he will
Third person Singular….she will
Third person Singular….it will
Third person Plural….they will
Learn these contractions.
I shall = I’ll
we shall = we’ll
I will = I’ll
we will = we’ll
you will = you’ll
they will = they’ll
he will = he’ll
she will = she’ll
it will = it’ll
will not = won’t
shall not = shan’t
There are other ways of talking about future actions and happenings.
You can use going to.
I think I’m going to be sick.
We are going to bake a cake this afternoon.
I’m sure Mom and Dad are going to be proud of me.
When are you going to clean your room?
They are going to wash the car for Dad.
It is going to get dark very soon.
You can also use the simple present tense to talk about things that have been arranged for the future.
The bus leaves in ten minutes.
The new supermarket opens tomorrow.
James moves to the second grade next year.
The new school year starts on Monday.
Next month I go to summer camp.
We have a history test next week.
You will grow fat if you eat too many desserts.
The new school building will be ready soon.
We shall go to the zoo after breakfast.
I shall take my bath before dinner.
Peter will find lots to do on his grandmother’s farm.
If we ask her, she will teach us how to play chess.
If he works hard, he will pass his exams.
Shall we go home now?
Complete these sentences by changing shall or will to the appropriate form of the verb be + going to (i.e., am, is or are + going to).
They will be busy tomorrow.
They will be going to be busy tomorrow.
I hope I will be ready on time.
I hope I shall be going to be ready on time.
We shall visit James this evening.
We will be going to visit James this evening.
It will rain soon.
It will be going to rain soon.
Dad will take us to the movies tomorrow.
Dad will be going to take us to the movies tomorrow.
