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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > I need some help!
I need some help!
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ceialvarez
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I need some help!
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Hi there!!! I would just like to know the difference between "going to" and "will" and when to use them in the correct grammatical sense. I �m a bit confused now....
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15 Oct 2009
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fsams
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First the similarity:
*Both going to and will are used to refer to the future.
Difference:
*We use the �going to � to talk about things which we have planned or are very likely to happen. Another use is, when we have evidence of something that will tells us that certain things will happen in the way we expect.
You see dark clouds in the sky and it �s an evidence that it is likely to rain.... SO you say IT IS GOING TO RAIN.
Look at this situation:
You and your friends have planned to go on a picnic. So you are going to have a great time. However, you haven �t started the trip yet...and another friend of yours (who doesn �t know about the plan) meets you when you all are about to set sail. Your friend will NOT say � I am going to...... � but will rather say � I will go too..."
By the way, I feel there is nothing to worry about these two future forms as both forms are correct....and each does the job!!
Hope it helps
Tc
Fsams
p.s Thanx Alien :) |
15 Oct 2009
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alien boy
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From Swann �s �Practical English Usage � (3rd edition):
When we are simply giving information about the future, or talking about
possible future events which are not already decided or obviously on the way,
we usually use will (or I/we shall) + infinitive. This is the most common way of
talking about the future.
When we talk about future events which have some present reality - which
have already been planned or decided, or which we can see are on the way -
we often use present forms. The present progressive is common.
The present progressive of go (be going to ... ) is often used as an auxiliary verb
to talk about the future.
These present forms are especially common in speech (because conversation
is often about future events which are already planned, or which we can see
are on the way).
Cheers,
AB
p.s. Good explanation there Fsams
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15 Oct 2009
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libertybelle
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Somewhere I heard that there is a language where there is no future tense.
The reason, as far as I remember, was because you can never know what will happen!
So instead of saying - Tonight I am going to the movies or I will drop by tonight, you could only say, Tonight I would like to go to the moves or I would like to drop by tonight.
(the person telling me this said, that you never knew if you �d arrive - what if you got hit by a car on the way!! Therefore you can only say you �d like to do something)
I don �t know if this is true or not but I found it interesting.
L
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15 Oct 2009
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