Lesson 9. Future Tense
Introduction
In this lesson you'll learn how to talk about events that happen in the future. You'll also learn some expressions of time. This lesson also includes chapter 4 of the story 'A New Life in Vancouver'.
Talking about the Future
There are a few different ways in English to indicate that an action will happen in the future:
- using the helper verb will
- using be going to
- using the present continuous
- using the present tense
The Helper Verb Will
The helper verb will is used in the following cases:
- quick decisions
- promises
- predictions
The verb will goes before the main verb in the sentence. When a pronoun comes before will is often shortened to 'll and combined with the pronoun. The negative form is won't.
Examples
| She'll meet us for lunch at 1:00. | 彼女は1:00に昼食のために私たちに会います。 |
| The cat will run away. | 猫は逃げるでしょう。 |
| I'll make some more coffee. | コーヒーを淹れるよ。 |
| What'll happen if I press the button? | ボタンを押したらどうなりますか？ |
| That will never happen. | それは決して起こりません。 |
| I won't be going to that restaurant again. | |
| Will you buy it? | 購入しますか？ |
| When will it stop raining? | 雨はいつ止むのでしょうか？ |
| We'll wait for you. | 私たちはあなたを待ちます。 |
Be Going To
Be going to is used to indicate that something is just about to happen, plans that have been previously decided, and predictions based on evidence.
Examples
| I'm going to go now. | 私は今行くつもりです。 |
| She's going to meet us for lunch at 1:00. | 彼女は1:00に昼食のために私たちに会います。 |
| We're going to study this afternoon. | 私たちは今日の午後勉強します。 |
| What's going to happen when they get here? | 彼らがここに着くとどうなるでしょうか？ |
| He's never going to do that. | 彼は決してそうするつもりはありません。 |
| Dinner is going to be ready in a few minutes. | 夕食は数分で準備ができています。 |
| Are you going to buy it? | あなたはそれを買うつもりですか？ |
| When is it going to stop raining? | 雨が止まるのはいつですか？ |
| We're going to wait for you in the restaurant. | 私たちはレストランであなたを待っているつもりです。 |
Present Continuous
The present continuous can be used to indicate a future event when talking about arranged plans with another person or group, and for personal scheduled events.
Examples
| I'm planning to see my friend tomorrow. | |
| They're flying to London next week. |
Present Simple
The present simple is used to indicate the future with timetables, official schedules, and repeated events.
Examples
| The movie starts at 8. | |
| My class begins on Monday. |
Expressions of Time
time
|
時間 |
|
year
|
年 |
|
month
|
月 |
|
week
|
週 |
|
day
|
日 |
|
hour
|
一時間 |
|
minute
|
分 |
|
second
|
秒 |
|
now
|
今 |
|
yesterday
|
昨日 |
|
today
|
今日 |
|
tomorrow
|
明日 |
|
this morning
|
今朝 |
|
this afternoon
|
今日の午後 |
|
this evening
|
今日の夕方 |
|
last week
|
先週 |
|
this week
|
今週 |
|
next week
|
来週 |
Story: A New Life in Vancouver
Chapter 4: Granville Island
Vocabulary
| shopping district | 商店街 |
| marina | マリーナ |
| theater | 劇場, 演劇 |
| shops | ショップ |
| ice cream | アイスクリーム |
| idea | 考え, 着想 |
| ice cream cone | アイスクリームコーン |
| prepare | 準備する |
| inlet | インレット, 入り江 |
| glistening | 輝く |
| ferry | フェリー |
| view | 情景 |
| produce | 果物と野菜 |
| bag | 袋 |
| cashier | キャッシャー |
Ana and Alejandro have been exploring Granville Island, a shopping district that contains a public market, marina, restaurants, theaters and small shops.
As they are walking along the waterfront, Alejandro sees an ice cream shop. “Hey Ana, let’s get some ice cream,” he says.
“That’s a good idea,” she agrees.
They walk into the shop and look at the different types of ice cream on display.
“What kind of ice cream cone are you going to get?” Ana asks her brother.
“I think I’ll get a chocolate cone. How about you?”
“They all look good, but I’m going to get the caramel swirl.”
“Hello,” the lady behind the counter says. “Have you decided what you would like?”
“I’ll have a caramel swirl ice cream cone,” Ana says.
“And I’ll have a chocolate one,” Alejandro adds.
The lady prepares the ice cream cones and hands them to Ana and Alejandro. “That’ll be six dollars,” she says.
They pay the lady and then walk back outside. There are a few small tables in front of the store, but they decide to keep walking. Soon they come to a large open area with several large benches.
“Let’s sit here,” Ana says.
They sit down on one of the benches and watch all the people walking by. In front of them is a small inlet glistening in the sun, and beyond that is Downtown Vancouver. Several people are kayaking on the water. A small pedestrian ferry is slowly approaching.
They sit quietly in the warm sun for a while, eating their ice cream cones. When Alejandro finishes his cone, he says “This is so relaxing. I could sit here all day.”
“It’s a beautiful view of the city from here. I wish I was in one of those sailboats though, slowly sailing away.”
“That would be nice!”
“Let’s go to the market and get some vegetables for tonight’s dinner,” Ana says after a few minutes.
They get up and walk into the market. Inside, the smell of fresh bread and coffee fills the air. People are talking, laughing, and calling out orders. They wander around the crowded market for a while, looking at all the things for sale. Eventually they find a produce vendor.
“What do we need to get?” Alejandro asks.
“We need some carrots, red peppers, onions, strawberries, and blueberries.”
They collect the items and bring them up to the cashier.
“Hello,” says the man at the cash register. “Did you find everything you need?”
“Yes. I think we have everything we need,” Ana replies.
“That’ll be $24.45.”
Ana pays the man and Alejandro picks up the bag with the food in it.
“Thank you,” Ana says as the man hands her the change, “Have a nice day.”
“You, too.”
Ana and Alejandro walk out of the market into the bright, sunny day and head home.
Quiz
Here are some questions to help you practice talking about events that happen in the future.
