expressing the future in enghlish eleventh grade pupils at my duc a high school anh suggeted solutions

Moreover, time reference is based meaning rather than structures therefore both pupils and teachers face many difficulties in learning and teaching ways of expressing the future in Engli

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY No.2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

TRAN KIM THOA

COMMON ERRORS IN EXPRESSING THE FUTURE

IN ENGLISH MADE BY ELEVENTH – GRADE PUPILS

AT MY DUC A HIGH SCHOOL AND SUGGESTED

SOLUTIONS

(Summary of Graduation Paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for

the Degree of Bachelor of Arts at Hanoi Pedagogical University No.2)

SUPERVISOR: TRAN THAI, M A

HANOI, May 2014

I am indebted to all lecturers in Foreign Languages Faculty of Hanoi Pedagogical University No.2 for their useful lectures and supports during the time I has studied for four years

I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to librarians who helped me approach to useful books, references and materials

My special thanks to pupils in My Duc A High School who willingly completed the questionnaires in my survey

I would like to show my gratitude to my friends who gave me useful advices and great help during my doing this graduation paper

Finally, I would also like to thank my parents who have been a constant source

of encouragement, support, love and care during the course of my writing

Hanoi, May 2014

Tran Kim Thoa

With the aim at finding out common errors in expressing the future in English and solutions to solve this problem, the study titled: ―Common Errors in Expressing the Future in English Made by Eleventh – grade Pupils at My Duc A High School and Suggested Solutions‖ carried out a survey at My Duc A High School with the participation of one hundred eleventh-grade pupils there

Throughout the survey results and analysis processing, we found out some common errors in expressing the future in English made by eleventh-grade pupils at

My Duc A High School Taking these results as a reference data, the study tried to offer some solutions to help pupils minimize these errors

Although I have made great effort, mistakes and shortcomings are unavoidable

I would be much grateful to welcome all possible comments from readers to accomplish the work

SCHOOL AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

I certify that no part of this paper has been copied or reproduced from any other person‘s work without acknowledgement and that the report is originally written by

me under strict guidance of my supervisor

Date submitted: May 22th, 2014

iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP TABLE OF CONTENT PART A: INTRODUCTION I RATIONALE 1

II AIMS OF THE STUDY 1

III SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1

IV TASKS OF THE STUDY 2

V METHODS OF THE STUDY 2

VI SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 2

VII DESIGN OF THE STUDY 2

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I.1 LITERATURE REVIEW 4

I.2 OVERVIEW OF THE FUTURE AND RELATED CATEGORIES 5

I.2.1 Some categories relating to expressing the future: 5

I.2.1.1 Time 5

I.2.1.2 Tense 6

I.2.1.3 Aspect 6

I.2.1.4 Mood 7

I.2.1.5 Modality 8

I.2.2 Overview of the future 9

I.3 WAYS OF EXPRESSING THE FUTURE IN ENGLISH 10

I.3.1 Different verb forms used to refer to the future 11

I.3.1.1 Simple present 11

I.3.1.1.1 Forms 11

v I.3.1.1.2 Uses 11

I.3.1.2 Present continuous 12

I.3.1.2.1 Forms 12

I.3.1.2.2 Uses 13

I.3.1.3 ―Be going to‖ form 14

I.3.1.3.1 Forms 14

I.3.1.3.2 Uses 14

I.3.1.4 ―Will/shall + infinitive‖ form 16

I.3.1.4.1 Forms 16

I.3.1.4.2 Uses 16

I.3.1.5 Future continuous 18

I.3.1.5.1 Forms 18

I.3.1.5.2 Uses 18

I.3.1.6 Future perfect 20

I.3.1.6.1 Forms 20

I.3.1.6.2 Uses 20

I.3.1.7 Future perfect continuous 21

I.3.1.7.1 Forms 21

I.3.1.7.2 Uses 21

I.3.1.8 Other forms and structures used to refer to the future 22

I.3.2 How to express the future in some special cases 26

I.3.2.1 Expressing the future in the past 26

I.3.2.2 Expressing the future in the subjunctive 27

I.3.2.3 Expressing the future in future time clause 28

I.3.2.4 Expressing the future in reported speech 29

CHAPTER TWO THE METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS II.1 METHODOLOGY 31

II.1.1 Purpose of the survey 31

II.1.2 Population of the survey 31

II.1.3 Type of the survey 31

II.1.4 Construction of the survey 32

II.1.5 Preparation of the survey 32

vi II.1.5.1 Test items 32

II.1.5.2 Arrangement of the test items 33

II.1.6 Administration of the try-out 33

II.1.6.1 Preparation of the try-out 33

II.1.6.2 The try-out 34

II.1.7 Method of data analysis 34

II.1.8 Results of the survey 34

II.2 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 35

II.2.1 Errors in expressing the future in the past 35

II.2.2 Errors in the uses of other forms and structures to express the future 37

II.2.3 Errors in the uses of ‗will/shall + infinitive‘ form, ―be going to‖ form and present continuous 38

II.2.4 Errors in the uses of future continuous and future perfect 39

II.2.5 Errors in expressing the future in reported speech 40

II.2.6 Errors in expressing the future in future time clause 41

II.2.7 Errors in expressing the future in the subjunctive 41

II.3 Suggested solutions and exercises 42

II.3.1 Suggested solutions 42

II.3.1 On the part of teachers 42

II.3.2 On the part of students 43

II.3.2 Suggested exercises 44

II.3.2.1 Sources of exercises 44

II.3.2.2 Types of exercises 44

PART C: CONCLUSION I Summary of the researching process and implication 46

II Limitations and suggestions for further research 47

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

Some grammarians supposed that there are three main kinds of tense in English: past tense, present tense and future tense However, According to modern grammarians, there is no future tense in English; there are only two groups of tenses: the present tenses and the past tenses So how we can express the future in English? There are several ways to talk about the future in English, each of which is used in certain situations The differences between the meaning and uses of the different structures are not easy to analyze and describe clearly In many but, not all situations, two or more structures are possible with similar meanings Moreover, time reference is based meaning rather than structures therefore both pupils and teachers face many difficulties in learning and teaching ways of expressing the future in English

Throughout the teaching practice period at a high school, I realized that pupils really had difficulties in dealing with this problem It is assumed that there are many errors which may be made when pupils express the future in English

This thesis is accomplished in hopes of making a contribution to the process of learning and teaching future time For the reasons above, this study titled: ―Common Errors in Expressing the Future in English Made by Eleventh – grade Pupils at My Duc A High School and Suggested Solutions‖ is conducted with the aim at focusing on errors in expressing the future in English and solutions to minimize these errors

II AIMS OF THE STUDY

The study is aimed at the following goals:

1 To find out some common errors in expressing the future made by the pupils

at My Duc A High school

2 To find out the causes of the errors in expressing the future made by the pupils at My Duc A High school

3 To offer some suggestions to minimize errors in expressing the future

III SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The general research area of this study is grammar The phenomenon is the errors in expressing the future made by the pupils at My Duc A High School Others relating to expressing the future time are also briefly mentioned

The population involved in the study is one hundred pupils at My Duc A High school

2

IV TASKS OF THE STUDY

The study involves fulfilling the following tasks:

1 To study some categories relating to expressing the future (time, tense, aspect, mood and modality) and overview about the future in English

2 To study the ways of expressing the future in English

3 To conduct a survey to find out error types and causes related to expressing the future in English On the basis of the findings, some suggested teaching methods are sought to minimize the pupils‘ errors

V METHODS OF THE STUDY

To achieve the objectives of the study, the following methods have been applied:

1 Collecting data from books

2 Consulting the supervisor, experienced teachers (my teachers at high school and university) and friends

3 Synthesizing theoretical materials on English grammar

4 Conducting a survey and analyzing the results

VI SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Errors in any language teaching and learning, particularly in English as a foreign language, are sometimes predictable and sometimes unpredictable Therefore,

it is essential for teachers to give better treatment to anticipate errors After the research, it is hoped that the result will be helpful to provide:

1 Input for learners of English in order to have better understanding about future time in English

2 Input for learners in order to minimize their errors in expressing the future in English

3 Input for teachers of English with information on ways of expressing the future, error types pupils often make when expressing the future and solutions to the problems

This study is also beneficial to anyone who is interested in the future reference

in English

VII DESIGN OF THE STUDY

The research work has three main parts: Introduction, Development, and Conclusion; focusing on the following:

Part A is the introduction, presenting the rationale for choosing this topic, the aims, scope, tasks, methods, significance and design of the study

Part B is the development which is divided into two main chapters:

3

Chapter one, Theoretical Background, consists of three sections Section one presents literature review in brief The section two shows some categories relating to expressing the future and overview of future time Section three deals with ways of expressing the future time in English

Chapter two names ‗methodology and results‘ describes the research method It

is composed of three sections Section one is devoted to the survey The second deals with error types and causes The last one is on solutions to the problems and suggested exercises on future time

Part C is the conclusion, giving all brief results of all the above sections Reference and Appendix come at the end of the thesis

4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

I.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

The notion of future reference has received particular attention since the 1970s Researchers who have made considerable contributions to the exploration of this issue are, for instance, Ultan (1978), Bybee, Perkins & Pagliuca (1991 and 1994) and Dahl (2000)

An early work on the notion of future is the paper by Ultan (1978) His article discusses numerous languages with respect to how they mark future tense He offers

an in-depth analysis concerning the structural and semantic differences between future tense on the one hand and present and past tense on the other

Another study on future time reference has been presented by Bybee, Perkins and Pagliuca (1994) Their book discusses in particular the evolution of what the

authors refer to as future grams (i.e grammatical formatives used to refer to future

time)

Dahl (2000) approaches the marking of future time in European languages from

a typological point of view He distinguishes predicted, intended and scheduled events

as being the three major concepts conveyed with future time reference His papers share the argument about the connection between future time reference and the notion

of modality

Quirk & Greenbaum (1973: 40-47), when discussing about the future in the

book ―A University Grammar of English‖, noted that there are no obvious future tense

in English corresponding to the time/tense relation for present and past In stead, there

are several possibilities for denoting future time Futurity, modality, and aspect are

closely related, and future time is rendered by means or modal auxiliaries or auxiliaries, simple present form or progressive form

semi-Many other grammarians presented ways of expressing future in English

According to ―A Practical English Grammar” of A J Thomson (1960: 132-141),

there are several ways of expressing the future in English: the simple present, will + infinitive, used for intention, the present continuous, the be going to form, the 'future simple' will/shall + infinitive, the future continuous, the future perfect and the future perfect continuous

Michael Vince in the book Advanced English Practice (1994: 7-13) mentioned

more other ways of referring to the future: is/are to be, be about to, be on the point of,

be due to, just/just about to and most verbs of thinking (think, believe, expect, doubt) can be followed by will if there is future reference

5

Angela Downing with English Grammar (1992: 352-360) stated that English

has just two tenses: the Present and the Past English has no verbal inflection to mark a future tense She outlined the main syntactic means of referring to future events as

seen from the standpoint of present time: ‗Safe‘ predictions (Will + infinitive or Will/shall + progressive), programmed events (present tense + time adjunct, will or the lexical auxiliaries be due to + infinitive and be to), intended events (intended events be + going to + infinitive and the Progressive (be + -ing), imminent events (be + going to

or combinations such as: be about to + infinitive, be on the point of/ be on the verge of + V-ing), future anterior events (the future perfect or the future perfect progressive )

Besides mentioning about ways to express future like other grammarians, Alexander (1988), John Eastwood (1994), Martin Hewings (1999), Alaine Walker & Steve Elsworth (2000), L.G were concerned with the future seen from the past (was/were going to, would, etc.) Michael Swan (1980) and Betty Azar (2002) care about expressing the future in time clause and conditional In addition, Nehls (1988) states that all modal auxiliaries, as well as hope, expect and promise can also be used

to express future time

To sum up, all of these writers mentioned more or less about future time in English According to most of them, there is no future tense in English but there are various ways of expressing future time It is the reason that makes learners of English get a lot of difficulties and confusions In high schools, pupils are taught future time however, they often make mistakes when expressing the future time in English Choosing this subject for the graduation paper, the thesis will help the Vietnamese learners of English overcome these difficulties and avoid making mistakes by presenting information involving various ways of expressing the future, discussing about common errors when expressing the future in English and suggesting solutions

I.2 OVERVIEW OF FUTURE TIME AND RELATED CATEGORIES

I.2.1 Some categories relating to expressing the future

I.2.1.1 Time

Humans conceive of time in terms of space, as shown by the language that we use to talk about temporal relations: we habitually speak of stretching out or compressing an activity, heading toward the future, returning to the past and so on (Laura: 1988)

According to linguists, time is the universal category in any particular language

It is considered from two different points of view:

(1) Grammatical: Time is a grammatical concept which is reflected in verbs (2) Semantic: Time is shown in specific situations: event, action, speech,…Most languages have ways to refer time because we may need to indicate whether we are referring to a situation which happen now, happened in the past or is likely to happen in the future The timeline is a line (or, equivalently, an ordered set of

Jespersen (1949) supposed that it is important to distinguish time from tense

Tense is the linguistic device which is used (among other things) for expressing time

relations For example, I start tomorrow is a present tense statement about a future

can be indicated in many other ways

According to Angela, D (1992) Tense is a grammatical category that is realized

in English morphologically on the verb In accordance with this criterion, English has

just two tenses: the Present and the Past, as in goes/ went, respectively English has no verbal inflection to mark a future tense The forms shall and will are not verbal

inflections but modal auxiliaries which, when reduced, are attached to pronouns, not to

the verb root (I‟ll wait outside) Also important are the form–meaning relationships

Shall and will belong to a set of modal auxiliaries and can express meanings other than

reference to future time, instead of a future tense, English makes use of a number of

combinations such as be going to to refer to future events

I.2.1.3 Aspect

Aspect is a grammatical way to describe the internal temporal structure of

events, states or actions in a specific situation These events can be either independent or related to each other (Comrie: 1976) Aspect is the general name given to verb forms used to signify certain ways in which an event is viewed or experienced This event can be seen as in progress or as a completed whole English has two aspects:

Mood is a grammatical way to describe the speaker‘s attitude towards a

situation or his/her opinion about this situation (Palmer: 1986) There is a most common point of view that modern English has indicative, imperative and subjunctive mood

The indicative mood allows speakers to form sentences that express assertions,

denials, and questions of actuality or strong probability

E.g

We still need someone to buy ingredients for the punch

Do you know where the old man lives?

The imperative mood allows speakers to form sentences that make direct

commands, express requests, and grant or deny permission

E.g

Dance like you‘ve never danced before!

Turn right at the courthouse

The subjunctive mood allows speakers to form sentences that express

commands, requests, suggestions, wishes, hypotheses, purposes, doubts, and suppositions that are contrary to fact at the time of the utterance It is used:

+ After certain verbs that express suggestions or demands for future actions: suggest, recommend, insist, require, demand…

+ After certain expressions that indicate necessity: It is best (that), It is crucial (that), It is desirable (that), It is essential (that), It is imperative (that), It is important (that), It is recommended (that), It is urgent (that), It is vital (that), It is a good idea (that), It is a bad idea (that)…

+ After wish, and after if to express untrue situations

In English there is no difference between the subjunctive and indicative form of the verb except for the present tense third person singular and for the verb to be The

subjunctive for the present tense third person singular drops the -s or -es so that it

looks and sounds like the present tense for everything else The subjunctive mood of

the verb ‗to be‟ is ‗be‟ in the present tense and ‗were‟ in the past tense, regardless of

what the subject is

E.g

He recommends that we be on time

8

It is necessary that he come home

I wish I were thin

I.2.1.5 Modality

According to Angela, D (1992: 379-390), modality is to be understood as a semantic category which covers such notions as possibility, probability, necessity, volition, obligation and permission These are the basic modalities Certain other types

of modality, not all speaker-based, will be mentioned in the following sections In very

general terms, modality may be taken to express a relation with reality, while a modal utterance treats the process as reality

non-Modality covers a broad semantic area and can be expressed by many forms In

English the syntactic class of modal auxiliaries is the most central Modal auxiliary

verbs help to add shades of meaning to the sense These modal auxiliaries include the verbs:

• Can (certainty of truth, ability, permission, possibility, inherent quality)

• Could (epistemic, ability, permission, possibility)

• May (epistemic, permission, possibility, wish)

• Might (epistemic, hypothetical, polite request, suggestion)

• Must (epistemic, obligation, prohibition)

• Ought to (epistemic, obligation, advice)

• Shall (threat, prediction, suggestion)

• Should (epistemic, obligation, hypothetical)

• Will (epistemic, habitual activity, property of subject (Boys will play)

• Would (epistemic, past habitual activity, advice, polite offers)

Besides modal auxiliaries, there are other verbs and other means of expressing modality as follow:

• Other verbs expressing modal meanings:

(a) The lexical-modal auxiliaries composed of be or have, usually another element + infinitive (have got to, be bound to, be likely to, etc.)

(b) The semi-modals need and dare

(c) Lexical verbs such as allow, beg, command, forbid, guarantee, guess,

promise, suggest, and warn

(d) The verbs wonder and wish, which relate to non-factual meanings

• Other means of expressing modality:

(e) Modal adverbs such as probably, possibly, certainly, hopefully, thankfully,

obviously

(f) Modal adjectives such as possible, probable, likely, used in impersonal constructions such as ‗He is likely to win‟

9

(g) Modal nouns such as possibility, probability, chance, likelihood, as in

‗there‟s just a chance that he may win‟

(h) The use of the past tense to indicate remoteness from reality, as in I thought

I‟d go along with you, if you don‘t mind Similarly, the past form in the closed

conditional, as in ‗If you went, I would go too‘

(i) Parentheticals such as I think, I guess

I.2.2 Overview of the future

Angela, D stated in the book English Grammar (1992: 352-360) that we cannot

refer to future events as facts, as we can to past and present situations, since future events are not open to observation or memory We can predict with more or less confidence what will happen, we can plan for events to take place, express our intentions and promises with regard to future events These are moralized rather than factual statements There are some main syntactic means of referring to future events

as seen from the standpoint of present time

„Safe‟ predictions

These are predictions which do not involve the subject‘s volition, and include

cyclical events and general truths Will + infinitive is used, shall by some speakers for

‗I‘ and ‗we‘:

Susie will be nineteen tomorrow

You‘ll find petrol more expensive in France

Will/shall + progressive combine the meaning of futurity with that of focusing on the

internal process, in this way avoiding the implication of promise associated with will

the subject is ‗I‘ or ‗we‘

E.g

I will (I‟ll) speak to him about your application tomorrow

We shall (we‟ll) be studying your application shortly

Programmed events

Future events seen as certain because they are unalterable (1) or programmed

(2), (3) and (4) can be expressed by the Present tense + time adjunct, by will or by the lexical auxiliaries be due to + infinitive and be to (simple forms only):

(1) The sun sets at 20.15 hours tomorrow

(2) Next year‘s conference will be held in Milan

(3) He is due to retire in two months‘ time

(4) She is to marry the future heir to the throne

Intended events

Intended events can be expressed by be + going to + infinitive (1) and by the

Progressive (be + -ing) (2) These forms can be marked for tense The past forms refer

10

to an event intended at some time in the past to occur in some future time (3) As with all intended events, they may or may not actually take place

(1) I am going to try to get more information about this

(2) Pete is thinking of changing his job

(3) I was going to leave a note but there was no-one at Reception

Imminent events

An event seen as occurring in the immediate future is expressed by be + going

to or by combinations such as: be about to + infinitive, be on the point of/ be on the verge of + -ing There is usually some external or internal sign of the imminence of the

happening

E.g

It looks as if there‘s going to be a storm

This company is about to be/on the verge of being taken over by a

multinational

An expectation orientated to past time is expressed by the corresponding forms in the past:

It‘s not what I thought it was going to be

the territory which was later to be part of Lithuania

Future anterior events

A future event anterior to another event is expressed by the Future Perfect:

E.g

The program will have ended long before we get back

By the time he is twenty-two, he‘ll have taken his degree

Otherwise, the Future Perfect expresses the duration or repetition of an event in the future The addition of the Progressive emphasizes the incompletion of the sequence E.g

We‘ll have lived here for ten years by next July

We‘ll have been living here for ten years by next July

I.3 WAYS OF EXPRESSING FUTURE TIME IN ENGLISH

When we talk about the present or the past, we use verb forms to say what is happening now, what happened yesterday, and so on We know about things in the present and in the past because they are already real But talking about the future is more of a problem There is no single form in English that we can always use for the future There are many different ways of talking about the future, depending on how

we see a future event It may be something that is fairly sure to happen, but on the other hand it may be just a plan or an intention, or it may be something that you think will happen but you can't be sure about In this part, the main ways of expressing the future events in English will be described in detail

11

I.3.1 Different verb forms used to refer to future events

I.3.1.1 Simple present

I.3.1.1.1 Forms

Affirmative form:

I / we / you / they / plural nouns + base verb (e.g leave, return)

He / she / it/ single nouns + Verb + - (e)s (e.g leaves, returns)

Negative form:

I / we / you / they / plural nouns + do not + base verb

He / she / it / single nouns + does not + base verb

Interrogative form:

Do + I / we / you / they / plural nouns + base verb?

-Yes, I / we / you / they / plural nouns + do

- No, I / we / you / they / plural nouns + do not

Does + he / she / it / single nouns + base verb?

-Yes, he / she / it / single nouns + does

- No, he / she / it / single nouns + does not

Wh-question:

Wh-question word + do + I / we / you / they/ plural nouns + base verb?

Wh-question word + does + he / she / it/ single nouns + base verb?

The verb is in the simple present tense To show clearly that it refers to the future, it is often used with a future time maker, for example: tomorrow, next Monday…

I.3.1.1.2 Uses

According to Marin Hewings, Advanced Grammar in Use (1999: 26-33), we

use the present simple when we talk about future events that are part of some official arrangement such as a timetable or program:

Their plane arrives at 2 o'clock in the morning

The next meeting of the committee is on November 5th

We get off the train in Bristol and continue by bus

Although the present simple suggests that the arrangement is fixed and definite We don't use the present simple when we talk about personal plans or predictions Instead,

we use will, going to, or the present continuous:

I'm exhausted I'm just staying in to watch TV tonight, (not…I just stay in ) Although it is a problem only in Britain at the moment, I think it will affect the

rest of Europe soon, (not I think it affects the rest )

However, we prefer the present simple if we can make a definite, specific prediction because an activity or event is part of an official arrangement such as a timetable or program:

There is a full moon tonight

The sun rises at 5.16 tomorrow

12

We use the present simple to refer to the future, not will, in adverbial clauses introduced by time conjunctions such as after, before, when, and until:

After you go another 50 meters, you'll see a path to your left

When you see Dennis, tell him he still owes me some money

Wait here until I call you

And in conditional clauses with if, unless, in case, and provided:

Let me know if he says anything interesting

Provided the right software is available, I should be able to solve the problem I'll bring a compass in case we get lost

We use the present simple in that- and wh-clauses when both the main clause and

the ‗that/wh- clause‘ refer to the future We don't use will in the ‗that/wh-clause‘ in

this kind of sentence:

I'm going to make sure

I'll let you know

(that) you are invited next time (not you will be invited ) when she gets here (not when she will get here.)

When the main clause refers to the present, we normally use will, not the

present simple, in the ‗that-wh/clause‟ However, if we are talking about a fixed

arrangement we can use either will or the present simple Compare:

I guarantee that you'll enjoy the play, (not you enjoy )

It is fortunate that they arrive at the same time tomorrow, (or .they will

We / they / plural nouns + are + V-ing

She / he / it / single nouns + is + V-ing

Negative form:

I + am + not + V-ing

We / they / plural nouns + are + not + V-ing

She / he / it / single nouns + is + not + V-ing

Interrogative form:

 Am + I + V-ing ?

- Yes, I am

- No, I am not

 Are + we / they / plural nouns + V-ing ?

- Yes, we / they / plural nouns + are

13

- No, we / they / plural nouns + are not

 Is + she / he / it / single nouns + V-ing ?

- Yes, she / he / it / single nouns + is

- No, she / he / it / single nouns + is not

Wh-question:

Wh-words + am + I + V-ing ?

Wh-words + are + we / they / plural nouns + V-ing ?

Wh-words + is + she / he / it / single nouns + V-ing ?

I.3.1.2.2 Uses

According to Susan, K in the book Intermediate Grammar (1996: 94-95), the

present continuous can refer to planned future events In this case, some kinds of arrangements have usually been made The future time (tomorrow, next week, on Sunday) must be stated in the sentence or understood in the context

1: A: What are you going to do with your car?

B: Well, we spoke to a car dealer downtown, and we’re selling it to him next week

2: A: What are your plans for next week?

B: I’m starting graduate school

The event can not depend on chance or luck It must be something that a person can plan For example:

We can not say: It‟s raining tomorrow (incorrect)

To express the future, the verb ‗go‘ and ‗come‘ are used more often with the present continuous than with ‗be going to‘ The present continuous forms of ‗go‘ and

‗come‘ express both plans and intentions

Plans: we’re going fishing this weekend, and we are coming back on Monday

morning

Intentions: I’m going to Spain when I have enough money

Certain verbs frequently combine with the present continuous as a future form These include: do, have breakfast, have lunch, have dinner, have a drink, stay, remain; and travel verbs such as: go, come, leave, arrive, fly, land, take a bus, take a plane…

A: When is Sam leaving?

B: On Tuesday He’s driving to New Orleans after he picks up Mary

We don't use the present continuous for the future:

• When we make or report predictions about activities or events over which we have

no control (we can't arrange these):

- I think it's going to rain / will rain soon, (not I think it's raining soon.)

- Scientists say that the satellite is going to fall / will fall to Earth some time this

afternoon (Not the satellite is falling )

• When we talk about permanent future situations:

14

- People are going to live / will live longer in the future, (not are living )

- The brothers are going to own / will own most of the buildings in the street

before long, (not are owning )

- Her new house is going to have / will have three floors, (not is having )

• With the verb be:

- John's going to be a shepherd in the school play next week, (not John's being )

- I'm going to be in Tokyo in May (Not I'm being in Tokyo )

I.3.1.3 “Be going to” form

I.3.1.3.1 Forms

Affirmative form:

I + am + going to + verb

We / they / plural nouns + are + going to + base verb

She / he / it / single nouns + is + going to + base verb

Negative form:

I + am not + going to + verb

We / they / plural nouns + are not + going to + base verb

She / he / it / single nouns + is not + going to + base verb

Interrogative form:

Am + I + going to + base verb?

- Yes, I am

- No, I am not

Are + we / they / plural nouns + going to + base verb?

- Yes, we / they / plural nouns + are

- No, we / they / plural nouns + are not

Is + she / he / it / single nouns + going to + base verb?

- Yes, she / he / it / single nouns + is

- No, she / he / it / single nouns + is not

Wh-question:

Wh-words + am + I + going to + base verb?

Wh-words + is + she / he / it / single nouns + going to + base verb?

I.3.1.3.2 Uses

In the book ‗Longman English Grammar‘ (1988), Alexander presented the uses

of the ‗going to-future‘:

The 'going to'-future for prediction

The going to-future is often used, like will, to predict the future It is common in

speech, especially when we are referring to the immediate future The speaker sees signs of something that is about to happen:

Oh, look, it’s going to rain!

15

Look out, she's going to faint!

This use of be going to includes the present, whereas It will rain is purely about

the future Alternatively, the speaker may have prior knowledge of something which will happen in the near future:

They're going to be married soon

A future time reference may be added with such predictions:

It's going to rain tonight

They're going to be married next May

We usually prefer will to the going to-future in formal writing and when there is

a need for constant reference to the future as in, for example, weather forecasts

The 'going to'-future for intentions, plans, etc

When there is any suggestion of intentions and plans, we tend to use the going to-future rather than will in informal style:

I'm going to practise the piano for two hours this evening

However, we generally prefer will to going to when we decide to do something at

the moment of speaking:

We're really lost I'll stop and ask someone the way

Intention can be emphasized with adverbs like now and just which are generally

associated with present time

I'm now going to show you how to make spaghetti sauce

I'm just going to change I'll be back in five minutes

The use of ‗be going to‟ to refer to the remote future is less common and generally

requires a time reference:

She says she's going to be a jockey when she grows up

If we want to be precise about intentions and plans, we use verbs like intend to plan

to propose to, rather than going to:

They're going to build a new motorway to the west (vague)

They propose to build a new motorway to the west (more precise)

The 'going to'-future in place of the present progressive

The going to-future may be used where we would equally expect to have the

present progressive with a future reference:

I'm having dinner with Janet tomorrow evening

I'm going to have dinner with Janet tomorrow evening

However, we cannot use the present progressive to make predictions, so it would

not be possible in a sentence like this: It‟s snowing tonight, in stead we use be going

to:

It's going to snow tonight

16

Though be going to can combine with go and come, the present progressive is

preferred with these verbs for reasons of style We tend to avoid going next to go or

come (e.g going to go/going to come)

I'm going/coming home early this evening

The 'going to'-future after if

We do not normally use ‗will‟ after if to make predictions, but we can use ‗be

going to‟ to express an intention:

If you're going to join us, we'll wait for you

Be going to can often be used in the main clause as well:

If you invite Jack, there's going to be trouble

I.3.1.4 “will/shall + infinitive” form (simple future)

I.3.1.4.1 Forms

Affirmative form:

I/we + shall/will + base verb

You/they/she/he/it + will + base verb

Negative form:

I/we + shall/will + not + base verb

You/they/she/he/it + will + not + base verb

Interrogative form:

Shall/will + I/we + base verb?

-Yes, I/we + shall/will

-No, I/we + shall/will + not

Will + you/they/she/he/it + base verb ?

-Yes, you/they/she/he/it + will

-No, you/they/she/he/it + will + not

Wh-question:

Wh-word + shall/will + I/we + base verb?

Wh-word + will + you/they/she/he/it + base verb ?

Contractions:

I shall/will = I‘ll; you will = you‘ll

Shall not = shan‘t; will not = won‘t

British people use I shall/ I will and we shall/ we will with no difference of meaning in most situations But shall is rare in American English

17

“Don‟t worry I„ll watch them carefully.”

The will future is also used at the moment when the speaker is making a quick choice and when the speaker is offering to do something In contrast to the ‗be going to‘ future, the speaker does not think about this much in advance:

 A customer in a restaurant is asking about the soup of the day:

- Customer: What kind of soup do you have?

- Waiter: Tomato and chicken noodle

- Customer: I‟ll have a bowl of tomato soup

 Two roommates are at home:

- David: Peter, someone‟s at the door

- Peter: OK, I‟ll get it

 The party host is asking his friends for help:

- Host: Will someone help me with the dishes?

- Matt: I will

- Todd: I will too

The will future can also express the speaker‘s expectations and predictions about events that are uncertain These sentences often include may be, probably, I think, I hope, or I guess:

 Your car is at the repair shop, but you‘re trying to make plans to go somewhere in a few days:

- I think I‟ll have my car back on Monday, but I‟m not sure

 You are offering your opinion about the upcoming election:

- Harris will probably win the election

To refuse someone, use the negative of the ‗will‘ future, will not or won‘t:

- Matt: will you help us next week?

- Todd: I‟m terribly sorry, but I won‟t be able to I‟m going to be out of town

‗Will‘ is more formal than ‗be going to‘ Choosing ‗will‘ instead of ‗be going to‘ depends on the situation and on the relationship between the speakers ‗Will‘ frequently appears in books, newspapers, signs, and in more formal speech situations such as news broadcasts, weather forecast, speeches, and announcements:

 TV weather forecast:

- The temperature will be near freezing tonight, but it will warm up considerably

tomorrow

 Signs:

- THE BANK WILL BE CLOSED UNTIL MONDAY

The same information news broadcasts, weather forecast, speech, and announcements using will is usually restated in informal conversations with the more informal ‗be going to‘

18

 You just heard the TV weather forecast and tell your friend:

- The temperature is going to be near freezing tonight, but it‟s going to warm up

tomorrow

 Your sister can‘t see the sign on the bank; you tell her what it says:

- The bank is going to be closed until Monday

With the verb ‗be‘, will often express future time only, rather than a promise, decision, or opinion:

 Two friends are talking:

- Karen: Can you have dinner with us next weekend?

- Chris: No, I‟m sorry, but I‟ll be in Ohio at a meeting

I.3.1.5 Future continuous

I.3.1.5.1 Forms

Affirmative form:

I/we + shall/will be + V-ing

You/they/she/he/it + will be + V-ing

Negative form:

I/we + shall/will + not be + V-ing

You/they/she/he/it + will not be + V-ing

Interrogative form:

Shall/will + I/we + be + V-ing

-Yes, I/we + shall/will

-No, I/we + shall/will + not

Will + you/they/she/he/it + be + V-ing

-Yes, you/they/she/he/it + will

-No, you/they/she/he/it + will + not

Wh-question:

Wh-word + shall/will + I/we + be + V-ing?

Wh-word + will + you/they/she/he/it + be + V-ing?

I.3.1.5.2 Uses

Alexander, L G in the book Longman English Grammar presented the uses of future progressive form as follow:

Actions in progress in the future

The most common use of the progressive form is to describe actions which will be in progress in the immediate or distant future This activity is expected to start before that time and probably continue after it

E.g:

- This time tomorrow, I‟ll be lying on the beach

19

- I will begin to study at 7

I will be studying when you come

- You will come at 8

So, someone will be doing something = He will be in the middle of doing it The activity here may also fill a period of future time

- Don‟t phone me between 7 and 8 We‟ll be having dinner then

- He will be watching television from 7 o‟clock to midnight

When a period in the future is defined by another action, this action may be in the present simple or present continuous, but not in a future form

- I will be buttering the bread while my mother is slicing the tomatoes

- I will be buttering the bread when my mother slices the tomatoes

The 'softening effect' of the future progressive

Sometimes the future progressive is used to describe simple futurity, but with a

'softening effect' that takes away the element of deliberate intention often implied by

will:

I'll work on this tomorrow (Intention, possibly a promise)

I'll be working on this tomorrow (Futurity)

In some contexts, the future progressive sounds more polite than will, especially in

questions when we do not wish to appear to be pressing for a definite answer:

When will you finish these letters? (E.g boss to assistant)

When will you be seeing Mr White? (e.g assistant to boss)

Sometimes there really is a difference in meaning:

Mary won't pay this bill (She refuses to)

Mary won't be paying this bill (Futurity)

Will you join us for dinner? (Invitation)

Will you be joining us for dinner? (Futurity)

Won't you come with us? (Invitation)

Won't you be coming with us? (Futurity)

Arrangements and plans

The future progressive can be used like the present progressive to refer to planned events, particularly in connexion with travel:

20

We'll be spending the winter in Australia (= we are spending)

Professor Craig will be giving a lecture on Etruscan pottery tomorrow evening

(= is giving)

Note:

a progressive form of the going to structure is also possible:

- I‟m going to be working all day tomorrow, so I won‟t have time to shop

I.3.1.6 Future perfect

I.3.1.6.1 Forms

Affirmative form:

I/we + shall/will have + past participle

You/they/she/he/it + will have + past participle

Negative form:

I/we + shall/will not have + past participle

You/they/she/he/it + will not have + past participle

Interrogative form:

Shall/will + I/we + have + past participle?

-Yes, I/we + shall/will

-No, I/we + shall/will + not

Will + you/they/she/he/it + have + past participle?

-Yes, you/they/she/he/it + will

-No, you/they/she/he/it + will + not

Wh-question:

Wh-word + shall/will + I/we + have + past participle?

Wh-word + will + you/they/she/he/it + have + past participle?

I.3.1.6.2 Uses

In the book A practical English Grammar, Thomson, A J & Martinet, A V

stated that this form is normally used with a time expression beginning with by: by

then, by that time, by the 24th:

- By the end of next month he will have been here for ten years

The future perfect is used to say that something will have been done, completed or achieved by a certain time in the future

- I will have finished work by five o‟clock

- I will graduate in June I will see you again in July By the next time I see you, I

will have graduated

- Tomorrow Jean and Ken will have been married for twenty years

- He‟ll have arrived home by now (The speaker predicts he is at home now.)

The Future Perfect cannot be used in clauses beginning with time expressions such as: when, while, before, after, by the time, as soon as, if, unless, etc Instead of Future

Perfect, Present Perfect is used

- I am going to see a movie when I will have finished my homework Not

Correct

- I am going to see a movie when I have finished my homework Correct

Note: It is possible to use either ‗will‘ or ‗be going to‘ too create the future perfect with little or no difference in meaning

- You will have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S

- You are going to have perfected your English by the time you come back from

the U.S

I.3.1.7 Future perfect continuous

I.3.1.7.1 Forms

Affirmative form:

I/we + shall/will + have been + V-ing

You/they/she/he/it + will have been + V-ing

Negative form:

I/we + shall/will + not have+ been + V-ing

You/they/she/he/it + will + not + have been + V-ing

Interrogative form:

Shall/will + I/we + have been + V-ing?

-Yes, I/we + shall/will

-No, I/we + shall/will + not

Will + you/they/she/he/it + have been + V-ing?

-Yes, you/they/she/he/it + will

-No, you/they/she/he/it + will + not

Wh-question:

Wh-word + shall/will + I/we + have been + V-ing?

Wh-word + will + you/they/she/he/it + have been + V-ing?

I.3.1.7.2 Uses

According to Thomson, like the future perfect, it is normally used with a time

expression beginning with by:

22

- By the end of this year he'll have been acting for thirty years

The future perfect continuous emphasizes the duration of an activity that will have been in progress for a certain length of time at another time or event in the future

- At 3:00 pm, I will have been cooking for seven hours

- I will go to bed at ten p.m He will get home at midnight At midnight, I will be

sleeping I will have been sleeping for two hours by the time he gets home

The future perfect continuous bears the same relationship to the future perfect as the present perfect continuous bears to the present perfect, i.e the future perfect continuous can be used instead of the future perfect:

+ When the action is continuous:

- By the end of the month he will have been working here for ten years

+ When the action is expressed as a continuous action:

- By the end of the month he will have been training horses/climbing mountains

for twenty years

But if we mention the number of horses or mountains, or divide this action in any way, we must use the future perfect:

- By the end of the month he will have trained 600 horses/climbed 50 mountains

The Future Perfect Continuous cannot be used in clauses beginning with time expressions such as: when, while, before, after, by the time, as soon as, if, unless, etc Instead of Future Perfect Continuous, Present Perfect Continuous is used

Examples:

- You won't get a promotion until you will have been working here as long as

Tim Not Correct

- You won't get a promotion until you have been working here as long as

Tim Correct

I.3.1.8 Other forms and structures used to refer to future

Beside the structures presented above, there are still many ways of expressing

the future such as structures with the verb ‗be‟, the infinitive or certain verbs followed

by will Now I‘m going to discuss about these ways:

 Some structure with Be

 Be to

According to Martin Hewings, Be to + infinitive is used to talk about formal or

official arrangements, formal instructions, and to give orders It is particularly common in news reports to talk about future events

E.g

- Children are not to be left unsupervised in the museum

- You are not to leave the school without my permission

23

- The medicine is to be taken after meals

We only use be to + infinitive to talk about things that can be controlled by people:

- We don't know where the meteorite is going to land, (not the meteorite is to

land.)

- I suppose we will all die eventually, (not we are all to die )

We often use be to + infinitive in if-clauses to say that something must take place

first (in the main clause) before something else can take place (in the if-clause):

- If humans are to survive as a species, we must address environmental issues

now

- The law needs to be revised if justice is to be done

Compare the use of be to + infinitive and the present simple for the future in

if-clauses:

- Jones needs to improve his technique if he is to win gold at the next Olympics

- Jones has said that he will retire from athletics if he wins gold at the next

Olympic

 Be about to

John Eastwood noted that we can use be about to + base form for an action in the near future (be about to do something means be going to do something very soon):

- The audience are in their seats, and the performance is about to start

- Hurry up The coach is about to leave

In informal American English, Not about to can mean unwilling to:

- I‟m not about to pay 100 dollars for that dress

We can use be just about to/going to for the very near future

- The coach is just about to leave/just going to leave

 Be on the point/verge of + V-ing

This verb phrase has the same meaning as be about to + infinitive, but is a

shade more immediate

- The company is on the point of signing the contract

- It is understood that Chancellor is on the point of announcing his resignation

 Be supposed to

Be supposed to express the idea that someone expects something to happen

Like be to, be supposed to often express expectations about scheduled events (be to

is stronger, more definite than be supposed to:

- The game is supposed to begin at 10:00

It is also express expectations about behavior; often they give idea that someone expects a particular person to do something

- I‟m supposed to go to the meeting My boss told me that he wants me to attend