Present tenses to talk about the future

When we talk about future events which have already been planned or decided, or which we can see are on the way, we often use present tenses.

the present progressive

The present progressive is used mostly to talk about personal arrangements and fixed plans, especially when the time and place have been decided.

the simple present

The simple present can be used to talk about future events which are part of a timetable.

be going + infinitive

The structure be going to can be used to talk about plans, especially in an informal style. Going to puts an emphasis on the idea of intention.

The going to structure can also be used to predict the future on the basis of present evidence.

present progressive and be going to: differences

The present progressive emphasises the idea of fixed arrangement; going to emphasises the idea of intention or previous decision.

We do not normally use the present progressive to make predictions about events that are outside people's control.

The present progressive and be going to can both be used to insist that people do things or do not do things.

simple future and present progressive: differences

Often shall/will and present-tense forms are possible with similar meanings.

We prefer present tenses when we are talking about future events that have already been arranged.

In predictions, we use going to when we have outside evidence for what we say. We prefer will when we are talking about what we know, or believe or have calculated.

Sections in this article

Tenses
The simple present tense
The present progressive tense
The present perfect tense
The present perfect progressive tense
Present tenses to talk about the future
The simple past tense
The past progressive tense
The past perfect tense
The past perfect progressive tense
Past verb forms with present or future meaning
The simple future tense
The future progressive tense
The future perfect tense

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