FUTURE FROM THE PRESENT-TIME PERSPECTIVE

In English, we use different constructions for expressing future. The following

table summarizes the options for simple future.

will be going to present simple

Predictions
with no evidence
I think she will win
Wimbledon.
The weather will be perfect
all weekend.
I’m sure she will call you.
Decisions
Spontaneous on-spot
decisions
Yes, I will marry you.
I will help you.
Offers and promises
Don’t worry! I will help you
with that.
Timetables
with visible evidence bus, train, flight, movie
timetables; working hours,
etc.
Look at those clouds. It is Hurry up! Our train leaves in
going to rain. fifteen minutes.
Watch out! The tree is going The classes start at 8, so we
to fall. need to hurry up.
Pre-arranged and planned Scheduled/repeated events
events (present progressive)
We are going to get married It is my birthday tomorrow.
th
on June 24 . It is Christmas next week!
We are going to have a coffee I have a German class next
tomorrow. week.
He has a job interview in a
fortnight.
Conditional clauses
Pre-decided actions; Zero: If you cool water to 0
intentions (present degrees Celsius, it freezes.
progressive)
We are going to get married, 1st conditional: If she cools
but we haven’t set a date. water to 0 degrees, it will
freeze.
Time clauses
When you see him, tell him to
come.

Instead of using be going to for pre-arranged and pre-decided events and actions, we
can use present progressive:

We are getting married on June 24th.

We are having coffee tomorrow.
  In time clauses, we can use both present simple and present perfect. Present
simple is used when the completion of the event is not emphasized: When we get there, we
will have dinner first. Present perfect is used when the completion of the event is
highlighted: When we’ve had a rest, we’ll go out.
Future progressive is used to (1) describe an event which will be happening at a
future point in time: Come round in the morning. I’ll be baking a pie. (this time tomorrow, this
time next week, etc.) It can also be used for (2) fixed arrangements and plan to emphasize
duration; plus that they will be on-going, in progress, etc.: The band will be performing live
across Europe this summer.

Future perfect simple and progressive refer to time we look back at from a
future point. In simpler terms, it is used for actions and events that are to take place before
some future moment: In four years, I will have graduated. By the time you graduate, you will
have mastered English tenses.

If we additionally put emphasis on duration, we need future perfect progressive

tense: By the time you graduate, you will have been learning English for sixteen years. All
progressive tenses temporally correspond to their simple counterparts. However, they either
emphasize that actions were ongoing at the given moment, or they emphasize their duration: