Verb forms in English which refer to future events are many. You must choose the right form to communicate what you want. When talking about the future, you may want to speak about your plans or your intentions. You may also use a future form to make promises or even offer to do something for someone. What I have just described are functions: plans, intentions, promises, and offers of assistance.
Another function is prediction. Now, in this post I will only talk about using a future form for predicting. So, this would form a sentence which anticipates what might happen at a time after speaking (or writing).
Let’s look at the verb forms in the image:
- It will boil soon. = future simple
- It’s going to overflow. = going to
- It’s not boiling. = present simple
- It may not boil straightaway. = modal verb ‘may’
The future simple can be used when making a prediction about something. Your calculation is based on past experience or personal opinion. Using the image as context, the fact here can be that when you normally prepare this recipe in these same pots on the same burners with these very ingredients, you know that it does not take long to boil; so you say ‘it will boil soon.’
Regarding the next future form in the list, it is a prediction too, but this differs from the future simple. A prediction with ‘going to’ is made from making a conclusion now from what you know now for this situation. For example, in the situation represented by the picture above, the head chef normally puts 2 litres of water in each pot, and the water normally rises just below the brim when boiling, but this time the chef’s apprentice who is less experienced has put an extra cup (0.25 litres) in each pot; so you say ‘it’s going to overflow.’
Moving on to the third point, even though the present continuous can be used to refer to a future event, it cannot be used for prediction. For instance, when you say ‘I’m having a sandwich’ you could be referring to the present (something that is happening at the time of speaking) or a future plan. It is clear from the context whether a sentence with the present continuous is being used for a present or future event. The context could be an extra word giving a time reference. Take a look: ‘I’m having a sandwich now’ (present) and ‘I’m having a sandwich tomorrow’ (future plan).
The last point is a prediction of a future event. Compared with points 1 and 2, however, the person making the prediction is unsure because it is not based on prior knowledge, nor can the result be calculated with certainty from present conditions—it is a possibility. For example, the chef could have added ingredients which were still a little frozen instead of completely defrosted or at room temperature. The chef has not done this before, so this is how the possibility is worded: ‘It may not boil straightaway.’ The same idea can also be communicated using ‘might’: ‘It might not boil straightaway’.
Here’s some reflection for you: The form of the verb that you choose to refer to something in the future is not dependent on whether that something happens or not—it’s the future, right? Neither is it dependent on whether the event is in the near or distant future. So, what does the choice of one form instead of another depend on? It’s function and your perspective: What does it describe, a plan or a prediction, for example? And how do you, the speaker/writer, see the event? For instance, is it very likely to happen, or not so likely? Is it a scientific fact taken for granted? Is it something so obvious that it cannot be otherwise? What is it exactly that is going on in your mind at the time of speaking/writing? This means that I may use a different form from my friend when describing the same event because we have each our own perspective. Consequently, sometimes more than one form is right, like these:
- It will boil soon.
- It’s going to boil soon.
- It may boil soon.
Do you want to know more about which forms to use for future plans? Or maybe a list of the functions of ‘will’?
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