Mirzakulova Gulnur 20-1-2

Introduction

First, tell your students about what have they learned in previous lessons: 

Running off of our previous lessons where we learned about the Present and Past simple tenses, it’s finally time to travel into the future. Let’s take a look at the future simple tense in English.

You’ll read many interesting things here today.

There’s going to be a lot of talk about the future.

We’re most likely going to have a ton of fun!

Notice how all of the sentences above refer to events in the future. However, that’s only one part of the equation. What I want you to focus on the most is the usage of “will” and “be going to”, as these two are actually the key to understanding the future simple tense.

First Off, When Do We Use the Future Simple Tense?

The answer to this question is pretty obvious: we use the future simple tense to talk about future events. However, there’s one question here that I always like to ask my students, as it really gets them thinking about the future tense.

When exactly does the future “occur”?

Is it just the moments following the sentence in the future simple, or does it perhaps have to be a much longer period of time for us to refer to it as “the future”?

Here are some examples of just what I mean:

Oh, no! I dropped my pen!

Don’t worry, I’ll help you! (moments or seconds after)

It looks like it’s going to rain. (hours after)

I’m going to the movies on Saturday night. (days after)

All of these sentences refer to future events, even though in some, the future is very near while in others, it’s still a bit far away. In essence, the exact moment of when an action occurs in the future doesn’t matter, as long as it happens in a moment that we still have to live to see.

Long story short: the future is the future, regardless of whether it’s just one second or one century ahead of us.

How Do We Form the Future Simple Tense?

There are two ways to form a sentence in the future simple tense, either with the usage of “will” or the various forms of “be going to” before the main verb.

The best thing about it: there are no suffixes to be added or irregular verb forms to be used. It’s all very simple. You just add the base form of the main verb after either “will” or “be going to”.

We can also use the verb “shall” before the main verb in the future simple tense, but it’s slightly less prevalent in everyday use than “will” and “be going to”. Here are some examples:

Affirmative Sentences:

I will have some coffee, please.

We are going to see a movie.

Negative Sentences:

I will not get an A+ on this test.

She is going to buy that!

Interrogative Sentences (Questions):

Will you go out on a date with me?

Are you going to pick the phone up?

Note: We can also use the shortened verb forms in all of the sentences above, except for the questions.

I’ll have some coffee, please.

We’re going to see a movie.

I won’t get an A+ on this test.

She’s going to buy that!