GIVE ANSWERS - English

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When i use Will or going to?

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AussieInBg profile picture AussieInBgDecember 2022
Copy-pasted from:

https://polyglotclub.com/language/english/question/7319#blank

where I wrote about different future forms including ”will” and ”going to”. I’m too lazy to write another answer

”going to do sth” refers to future events with definite certainty, but not a definite time in which something is completed:

e.g. ”We’re all going to die at some time in the future.

As Benjamin Franklin once paraphrased most likely from Daniel Defoe: ”but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes” smile.gif

”to be doing sth” is all about defined future plans, i.e. plans with a defined time of being undertaken and completed. Usually, it is used informally:

”The plane with my friend on it is landing at the airport at 11am tomorrow.”

The formal tense for future plans is generally simple present: ”The plane lands at 11am tomorrow”.

Often, formal speech uses simple tense forms while informal uses much more continuous tenses. The reason is simple. When you are using formal language, you are often more interested in the completed result - so there are more simple tense verbs being used in formal speech. On the other hand, if you are chatting with your friends, you are often interested in what is happening in the event - so verbs are more often used with continuous tense forms.

In the case of ”the plane is landing at 11am tomorrow”, friends and family at that point in the future are waiting at the airport, anticipation and so on.

”The plane lands at 11am tomorrow” is more likely said by a bored customer service person at an airline office responding formally to questions about the plane’s landing time. You might have noticed that timetables in general use simple present forms to describe arrival and departure times.

Using ”will” for future events is all about a very high probability of happening, but not 100% certainty. Quite a lot of native English speakers don’t get this one! Many mix up ”will do sth”, ”going to do sth”, ”to be doing sth” and ”to do sth”. I’ve seen more than one native English speaker mess this up teaching to groups of non-native speakers wink.gif
PactOfCards profile picture PactOfCardsDecember 2022
Exactly the same