Futures

Talking About the Future in English

When learning English, many students ask, “What is the future tense?” The answer might surprise you—English doesn’t actually have a future tense in the same way it has present and past tenses. Instead of using a single verb form to indicate the future, we express future meanings by using a variety of verb structures, modal verbs, and context clues.

For example, we often use “will” to talk about the future, which is why “will go” is often called the Future Simple. However, English has many ways to express the future, each carrying a different nuance. We frequently use present tenses (Present Continuous, Present Simple), be going to, and modal verbs like may, might, and should, depending on the certainty, intent, or tone of what we are saying.

Here are just a few ways we talk about the future in English:

• I will visit her soon. (A neutral statement of future fact or a decision made at the moment.)
• I’m going to visit her soon. (A plan or intention that has already been decided.)
• I’m visiting her soon. (A scheduled event, often with arrangements already made.)
• I’ll be visiting her soon. (A future event in progress or a polite, slightly less direct statement.)
• I will have visited her soon. (By a certain point in the future, the visit will be completed.)

🔹 Challenge: Can you think of a situation where each of these sentences would be the most appropriate choice?

In this series of lessons, we’ll explore the many ways we express the future in English and when to use each one to sound natural and precise. Let’s get started! 🚀