Future Tenses

Look at this sample situation:

A conversation between two friends planning their holidays:

Emma: I’m going to visit my cousins in Italy this summer. We’ve already booked the tickets.

Lucas: Nice! I’m meeting my friends on Friday to talk about our road trip.

Emma: Sounds exciting! The train to Milan leaves at 9.15, so I can’t be late.

Lucas: By this time next week, I will be driving across the mountains.

Emma: Wow! By the end of the trip, we will have visited five different cities.

Lucas: And we will have been travelling for nearly two weeks by then.

Emma: Amazing!

You can see from these examples that:

Will is used for decisions made at the moment or predictions:

Going to is used for plans/intentions or when we see evidence of the future:

Present continuous is used for fixed future arrangements:

Present simple is used for timetables or schedules:

Future continuous is used for actions in progress at a future time:

Future perfect simple is used for actions completed before a future time:

Future perfect continuous focuses on the duration of an action up to a future time:

Structure

Will (future simple)

Affirmative: Subject + will + base verb

Negative: Subject + will not (won’t) + base verb

Question: Will + subject + base verb?

Going to

Affirmative: Subject + am/is/are + going to + base verb

Negative: Subject + am/is/are + not + going to + base verb

Question: Am/Is/Are + subject + going to + base verb?

Present continuous (future meaning)

Affirmative: Subject + am/is/are + verb-ing

Negative: Subject + am/is/are + not + verb-ing

Question: Am/Is/Are + subject + verb-ing?

Present simple (future meaning)

Affirmative: Subject + base verb (+ s/es for he/she/it)

Negative: Subject + don’t/doesn’t + base verb

Question: Do/Does + subject + base verb?

Future continuous

Affirmative: Subject + will + be + verb-ing

Negative: Subject + won’t + be + verb-ing

Question: Will + subject + be + verb-ing?

Future perfect simple

Affirmative: Subject + will + have + past participle

Negative: Subject + won’t + have + past participle

Question: Will + subject + have + past participle?

Future perfect continuous

Affirmative: Subject + will + have + been + verb-ing

Negative: Subject + won’t + have + been + verb-ing

Question: Will + subject + have + been + verb-ing?

Meaning

These tenses all describe actions in the future, but they show different perspectives: plans, arrangements, schedules, predictions, actions in progress and actions completed by a future time.

Will (future simple)

Used for decisions made at the moment of speaking, predictions, offers and promises.

Instant decisions:

means the decision is made now, not before.

Predictions (often with think, probably, expect):

means a personal opinion about the future.

Offers & promises:

means offering to help.

Going to

Used for plans and intentions made before the moment of speaking or for predictions based on present evidence.

Plans/intentions:

means the decision to do the course was made earlier.

Evidence-based predictions:

means we can see something now that makes the future event likely.

Present continuous (future meaning)

Used for fixed arrangements in the near future, especially when time and place are already decided.

means the appointment is booked; it’s in the diary.

Present simple (future meaning)

Used for timetables, programmes and schedules; events that are seen as fixed and outside our control.

means the time is in the timetable, it's not a personal plan.

means a fixed time.

Note: After the words after, as soon as, before, when, if and until we use the present simple, not will.

Future continuous

Used for actions in progress at a particular future time. It can describe what you expect will be happening, often politely.

means the action will be in progress at a specific time in the future.

is a polite way to ask about someone’s plans.

Common time expressions: this time (tomorrow/next week, month, etc.), at (+time) tomorrow/next week, month, etc.

Future perfect simple

Used for actions that will be finished before a specific future moment.

means the project will be completed before Friday.

means the graduation will already be a fact.

Common time expressions: by, by the time, before, in… (time period).

Future perfect continuous

Used to emphasise the duration of an action up to a future moment.

focuses on the length of time - five years continuing until December.

highlights the effort or ongoing nature of the action.

Common time expressions: for, by, by the time.

Other ways to talk about the future

The following expressions indicate that an event will probably happen very soon:

Be (just) about to + base verb

means they will leave very soon.

Be bound to + base verb

means you will probably arrive on time.

Be on the point/verge of + verb + ing

means she is very close to collapsing.

Be due to + base verb is used for schedules and timetables:

means that the plane is expected to land in half an hour.

Key Differences

Will vs going to

 is a spontaneous decision but

is an intention decided before now/the moment of speaking but

is a prediction based on personal opinions about the future. It's common to use this with perhaps/probably or after verbs such as believe, think, be sure, etc. but

is is a prediction based on evidence at the time of speaking.

Present continuous vs going to

is a fixed arrangement. Tom and I planned and arranged to meet at 7 and we wrote it in our diaries.

is an intention or plan but not necessarily arranged.

Future perfect simple vs Future perfect continuous

focuses on the completion of the action by 2026.

focuses on the duration of the action by 2026.

In the FCE exam

You'll find and use these tenses everywhere in English and in the FCE exam of course but here are a few possible uses:

Reading and Use of English

Part 4 (key word transformations) may test your ability to change between future forms:

The project will be complete before Saturday.

BY 

The project _____________________________ Friday.

Answer: will have been completed/finished by

Writing

Essays/reports: Use will for predictions about the future:

Informal emails: Use going to to share personal plans and intentions:

Speaking

Part 1

Talking about intentions and plans with going to:

Talking about arrangements with present continuous.

Talking about possible predictions with will if you are not 100% sure about something.

Now try these exercises!