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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > A question
A question
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ihtiyaryer
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A question
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Is "going to go" structure (for future tense) true or false? "I am going to go to London" Is it okay? help please...
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29 Jan 2013
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valentinaper
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It is grammatically correct, but I think it �s more common to use the present continuous form in this case, if we �re talking about an arrangement and not just a plan. Compare the following examples: "Have you got any plans for the holiday?" "I think I �m going to go to London, but I �m not sure." "What are you doing for the holidays?" "I �m going to London to visit my sister."
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29 Jan 2013
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MoodyMoody
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At least in the States, we use "going to go" and "going to" (as the present continuous of "go") almost interchangeably. "I �m going to go to London in April" sounds fine to me. (English colleagues might disagree; April may be a wretched time to go to London!)  |
29 Jan 2013
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yanogator
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I agree with all the previous answers, and would like to add a humorous observation. Not only is "going to go" correct and widely used, but people are beginning to use the structure in different tenses, with funny results. I occasionally hear people say "We went to go to the movies" instead of "We went to the movies". They don �t realize that the "going to" is for forming the future, so it doesn �t make sense to use it in the past. Bruce |
29 Jan 2013
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jannabanna
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Are you talking about American people Bruce or foreign students?! It seems incredible to me that Americans make that type of mistake. Janet |
30 Jan 2013
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MoodyMoody
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I can think of a context where this isn �t a mistake: "The shopping center was so busy last Saturday, but we didn �t want to shop. We went to go to the movies." |
30 Jan 2013
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yanogator
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You underestimate us, Janet! This is the country where "is is" has become almost standard usage, as in "The problem is is that this sentence has too many verbs". There are also many variations, as in "The point being is that..." and "The problem was is that...". It �s my own countrymen who are saying it. You �re right, of course, MoodyMoody, but your example is saying "we went (to the shopping center) to go to the movies". What I �m hearing occasionally is being used as a past tense of "going to go". Bruce |
30 Jan 2013
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