- •Parts of speech
- •The noun General Characteristic
- •The Grammatical Category of Number
- •The Pronunciation
- •The Spelling/Formation
- •Nouns Used only in the Singular
- •Nouns Used only in the Plural
- •Collective nouns
- •The Category of Case
- •The Formation
- •The Pronunciation
- •V. Articles with Nouns in the Possessive Case
- •The adjective General Characteristic
- •Degrees of Comparison
- •Formation
- •Comparative Constructions
- •The adverb General Characteristic
- •Formation
- •II. Degrees of Comparison
- •Some, any, no, none
- •(A) few, (a) little
- •Much, many, a lot of, lots of, plenty of, etc.
- •The verb General Characteristic
- •Present tenses
- •The Present Indefinite (Simple)
- •I. The Formation:
- •II. Spelling of the third person singular forms.
- •III. The Meaning:
- •IV. The Use of the Present Indefinite
- •The Present Indefinite is used to denote future actions
- •The Present Indefinite is used to denote past actions:
- •The Present Continuous (Progressive)
- •I. The Formation.
- •II. Spelling of the –ing forms.
- •III. The Use of Present Continuous.
- •IV. Verbs Not Used in the Continuous Forms.
- •V. The Present Continuous vs. The Present Indefinite.
- •The Present Perfect
- •I. The Formation
- •III. Patterns
- •IV. Time Indication
- •V. The Present Perfect vs. The Past Indefinite
- •VI. The Past Indefinite and the Present Perfect as Variants
- •The Present Perfect Continuous
- •I. The Formation
- •II. The Use of the Present Perfect Continuous
- •III. The Present Perfect Continuous vs. The Present Perfect
- •IV. The Present Perfect Continuous and the Present Perfect as Variants
- •Past tenses
- •The Past Indefinite Tense
- •I. The Formation
- •The Past Continuous Tense
- •I. The Formation
- •III. The Past Continuous vs. The Past Indefinite
- •The Past Perfect Tense
- •I. The Formation
- •III. The Past Perfect vs. The Past Indefinite
- •The Past Perfect Continuous
- •I. The Formation
- •III. The Past Perfect Inclusive vs. The Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive
- •Future tenses
- •The Future Indefinite Tense
- •I. The Formation
- •III. ''Will'' as a modal verb
- •IV. ''Shall'' as a modal verb
- •The Future Continuous Tense
- •I. The Formation
- •The Future Perfect Tense
- •I. The Formation
- •The Future Perfect Continuous Tense
- •I. The Formation
- •Around the future
- •Reported speech
- •I. Statements
- •II. General Questions
- •III. Special Questions
- •IV. Short Answers
- •V. Commands and Requests
- •VI. Suggestions
- •VII. Advice
- •VIII. Offers
- •IX. Responses
- •Sequence of tenses
- •Modal Verbs in Indirect Speech
- •Question tags
- •I. Formation.
- •II. Agreeing and disagreeing with question tags
- •III. Echo tags
- •The imperative mood
- •I. Formation
- •II. Imperatives with 'let'
Future tenses
All future tenses refer the action they denote to the future. In English there several forms which express future events, and which one the users select depends on how they see the event, if the event is certain or near to the present.
The Future Indefinite Tense
I. The Formation
The Future Indefinite is formed by means of the auxiliary verb ''shall'' for the first person singular and the plural or the auxiliary verb ''will'' for all the persons and the notional verb in the infinitive without the particle ''to''.
You will speak to him.
Will you speak to him?
You will not (won't) speak to him.
II. The Use
1) The Future Indefinite is used to denote predictions, often with I believe, expect, think, doubt, am sure, know, wonder etc. or accompanied by adverbs such as perhaps, probably, surely, etc. Such predictions which are based on guesswork, analysis or judgment:
We will still be here in twenty years.
I think it will be a difficult game.
Maybe, we will visit them next year.
I think we will go to Moscow in summer.
Tomorrow’s weather will be cold and cloudy.
Perhaps I’ll change my mind after I have spoken to my wife.
In twenty years’ time, the average employee will work a twenty-five hour week. (=a prophetic statement)
Note 1: After I hope, we generally use the present.
I hope he wins the game.
2) The Future Indefinite is used to denote a succession of future actions.
I shall wait in the next room and then come back.
3) The Future Indefinite is used to denote statements of fact about the future, often future habitual actions:
Next week I will be 25.
The sun will rise at 5.30 tomorrow morning.
Christmas day will fall on Tuesday this year.
Spring will soon come.
4) The Future Indefinite is used to express on-the-spot decisions (decisions made at the moment of speaking).
I will buy the blue jumper and not the yellow one.
You look tired. I will cook tonight.
Note 1: Note that if after the decision the speaker mentions the action again, he will not use will, but be going to or the present continuous.
BILL (to waiter): I will have a steak, please.
Imagine that a friend, Tom, joins Bill before his food has arrived.
TOM: What are you having/going to have?
BILL: I am having/going to have a steak.
5) The Future Indefinite is used in sentences containing clauses of condition and time:
If I drop this glass it will break.
When it gets warmer, the snow will start to melt.
6) The Future Indefinite is used in newspapers and news broadcasts for formal announcements of future plans and for weather forecasts. In conversations such statements would normally be expressed by the present continuous or be going to form or, for plans only, by the present continuous:
NEWSPAPER: The President will open the new heliport tomorrow.
But the average speaker will say:
The President is going to open/is opening….