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The future tense is a bit more complex relative to the other tenses. In addition to the usual four forms of the future tense (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous), there are three other ways to talk about the future. The present simple and continuous as well as the unique ?be going + infinitive? can be used for discussing future scenarios. However, there are differences that distinguish them. Identifying between the 7 requires looking at the words used as well as the usage. In the future simple, I always look for ?will? in the sentence. This form is usually used for stating future facts, speculation, and promises, and spontaneous decisions. This form can be easily confused with the ?going to + infinitive? form since they serve the same function for making predictions. Aside from the words used (going to vs will), the future simple is used to make predictions is not based off present evidence while the other is. Another point to note is that the future simple is used to describe spontaneous decisions while ?going to? is used to describe more planned decisions. The Future continuous uses the same word ?will? but adds in a ?be? and an ?-ing? ending to the verb. This is used to say something will be continuing at a moment in the future. It can also be used to guess what is happening in the present. In addition, it too can be used for referring to fixed future events and polite enquiries on other?s plans. The future perfect and future perfect continuous are similar in that they connect a past event to a future moment. The difference is that the future perfect is used to describe that the action in the past is completed at that future moment whereas the future perfect continuous indicated how long the action has been going on by the future moment and implies that it will continue. As for the present simple and present continuous, these are the basic structures we learned in the present tense unite with a word or phrase referencing the future tacked on (eg: next month, tomorrow). The ?going to + infinitive? form is usually used to describe intention, decided plans and predictions based on evidence. It can also be confusing when comparing it with the present continuous. The key to distinguish these two is the obvious use of the word ?to? added on. All in all this unit may be a bit harder to teach but is manageable.
