These are the rules....


                        will-future                  

example:       I think I will meet her tomorrow.

                      I think I won't meet her tomorrow.

 

                      Will it rain next week?   

  


rule:              We use the will-future when we         

                      want to

                           a) talk about future actions we 

                               can't influence or control

                           b) foretell future actions/ express

                               hopes, fears, promises, ....

                           c) express a spontaneous

                               reaction/ decision.

    

form:             

positive sentence:        will + 1st form of verb 

negative sentence:      will+ not + 1st form of verb 

question:                       will(+not)+ 1st form of verb

 

 

 

 

signal words:   e.g. tomorrow (for future), think/hope/expect, maybe, possibly (for will),...

 

ATTENTION:

"will" = future form!!!; "Ich will..." = "I want...".

                      going to future              

example:     I'm going to meet her tomorrow.

                    I'm not going to meet her tomorrow.

 

                    Are you going to meet her tomorrow?

 

                      
rule:            We use the going-to-future when we

                    want to

                           a) talk about future plans/

                                intentions

                           b) things that are most likely

                               going to happen.

("Careful, you're going to fall.")

    

form:             

positive sentence:    form of to be + going to 

                                     +1st form of verb 

negative sentence:   form of to be+not+ going to

                                     +1st form of verb 

question:                    form of to be(+not)+going to

                                     + 1st form of verb

 

signal words:   e.g. tomorrow (for future),

                                   plan/intend,  and look at the

                                   context. (for going to),...



      present progressive with future meaning                 
example:       I'm meeting her tomorrow at 8 pm.       

 


rule:              We use the present progressive with

                      future meaning when we want to

                      talk about future things that are

                      fixed, planned or definitly decided.

    

 

 

form:             

see Present Progressive.

 

 

 

 

signal words:   no real signal words. Have a look

                            at the context of the sentence.

                  future progressive

      
example:       I will be meeting her on Monday at

                      8 pm.


rule:        We use the future progressive when we

                want to talk about future things that

                   a) happen on a regular basis (above: I

                        meet her every Monday at 8pm).

                   b) are in process at a certain point in

the future. ("Tomorrow at this time, I'll be lying at the beach.")

    

form:            

positive sentence:  will + be+ing-form of verb 

(rarely used:

negative sentence:   won't+be+ing-form of verb 

question:                  will/won't+be+ ing-form of verb)

 

signal words:   no real signal words. Have a look

                            at the context of the sentence.



future perfect

 

example:             She will have travelled to Italy

                             before she gets married.

 

                            She won't have travelled to Italy

 

                            Will she have travelled to Italy

                            before she gets married?

 

 

 

 

   

rule:                     We use the Future Perfect when

                             we want to talk about something

                             that will occur before another

                             action in the future. It can also

                             show that something will

                             happen before a specific time in

                             the future.

 

form:

positive sentence:   will+have+3rd-form of verb 

negative sentence: won't+have+3rd-form of verb 

question:                  will/won't+have+ 3rd-form 

                                   of verb

 

 

 

signal words:   no real signal words. Have a look

                            at the context of the sentence.

 

NOTE:

"will" and "going to" can both be used in the future perfect without creating a difference in meaning.

future perfect progressive

 

example:          We will have been playing video

                          games for two hours by the time

                          we will get bored.

 

                         We won't have been playing video 

                         games for two hours by the time

                         we will get bored.

 

                        Will you have been playing video

                        games for two hours by the time

                        you will get bored?

 

rule:                  We use the Future Perfect

                          Progressive to show that

                          something will continue up until a

                          certain event or time in the future.

 

 

 

 

form:

positive sentence:     will+have+been+ing-form of

                                      the verb

negative sentence:    won't+have+been+ing-form

                                      of the verb

question:                     Will/won't+have+ing-form

                                      of the verb

 

signal words:   no real signal words. Have a look

                            at the context of the sentence.

 

NOTE:

"will" and "going to" can both be used in the future perfect without creating a difference in meaning.