Future Time

The future is uncertain. We know the past. We know the present. We do not know the future. We can be 100% sure or certain about the past and the present. But we can never be 100% certain about the future. In English there are several structures and tenses to talk about the future. It is usually the degree of certainty about the future that decides our choice of structure or tense.

Although we often talk about "future tenses", technically there are no future tenses in English - only different ways of talking about the future, using special constructions, other tenses or modal verbs.

In this lesson we look at four of the most common ways to talk about the future, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:

• Will for No Plan, Prediction & Be
• Going to for Intention & Prediction
• Present Continuous for Plan
• Present Simple for Schedules
• Summary