Simple Future Tense

Form

Affirmative

I shall/will write.
She will write.
You will write.

Negative

I shall/will not write.
She will not write.
You will not write.

Question

Shall/will I write?
Will she write?
Will you write?

British people use I shall/I will and we shall/ we will with no difference of meaning in most situations. However, shall is becoming much less common than will. Shall is not normally used in American English.

use

to give information about the future

We use the simple future tense to give or ask for information about the future.

• I will phone you tonight.
• She will be here in a couple of minutes.
• I will go to London tomorrow.

We often use the simple future tense in predictions of future events - to say what we think, guess or calculate will happen.

• I shall be rich and famous one day.
• It will rain tonight.
• You will never get a job.

conditional use

The simple future tense is often used to express conditional ideas, when we say what will happen if something else happens.

• If it rains the match will be cancelled.
• Don't leave me. I will cry.

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