Grammar — Future forms for predictions
- We use will:
- to make predictions based on our opinions or expectations. We often use will with phrases like I think, I’m sure, I expect, or adverbs like possibly, probably, definitely:
- He’ll probably be late, as usual.
- I’m sure you won’t have any problems with it.
- to express a decision made at the moment of speaking: On second thoughts, I think I’ll leave it till the weekend.
- We use going to:
- to talk about existing plans or intentions for the future: I’m going to study Architecture at college.
- to make a prediction based on evidence you have now: You are going to have a busy weekend! (I know all the things my friend has to do at the weekend.)
- We use the form will + be + Present Participle, sometimes referred to as the Future Continuous:
- to talk about an action that will be in progress at a particular time in the future:
- By the end of the century, more people will be living in the country than in cities.
- Will you be working on it at 5.30?
- to talk about events that will happen as part of the normal course of events, or routine:
- She’ll be visiting her family at the weekend. (She does it every weekend.)
- As with other continuous forms, we do not use state verbs (be, believe, forget, like, want, etc.) with the Future Continuous.
- We use the form will + have + Past Participle, sometimes referred to as the Future Perfect Simple, to talk about an action that will be completed before a particular time in the future: In 100 years’ time half the world’s languages will have disappeared.
- Will you have finished it by then?
- If we want to focus on a duration of an action which is still ongoing at some point in the future, we use the form will + have + been + verb -ing (it is sometimes reffered to as Future Perfect Continuous): I will have been living in Berlin for three years in July.
- The Future Continuous, the Future Perfect and the Future Perfect Continuous are often used with by (2050, next year, then, the time, etc.) and in (ten years, two months).
- Other modal verbs can be used instead of will with Future Continuous and Future Perfect forms to show different degrees of certainty (might, may, could).
- We can use certain phrases with the structure be + adjective + infinitive to talk about how probable it is that a future prediction will actually happen:
- be bound/certain/sure to (this is almost definite)
- be likely to (this is probable)
- be unlikely to (this is improbable)