The Future Simple in English: When and How to Use It | FluentU English Blog (2024)

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What Is the Future Simple Tense?

Firstly, the future simple talks about things that haven’t happened yet.

These aren’t things that have happened in the past or things that are taking place in the present (right now).

Instead, they’ll happen in the future.

Furthermore, there’s usually a certainty that these actions will happen. That means that these things will happen later today, tomorrow, next week or even next year.

The future simple can talk about any point in the future, no matter how close or far away.

The sentences “tomorrow I will wake up at eight o’clock” and “I will buy a new car when my old one dies” are both using the future simple in English. In both situations, we’re talking about a point in the future, and we’re certain that these things will happen.

Another small point to know is that the future simple describes an action that’s also said to be completed in the future. This means this action isn’t ongoing or repeating, and instead has a clear end.

Take a look, for example, at the sentence, “I will be working tomorrow.”

This sentence is implying that the action of work will happen tomorrow, but it doesn’t say that it’ll be completed. In this case, we use a verb tense called the future continuous to show the action is incomplete or repeated.

How to Form the Future Simple in English

To form the future simple tense, yousimply need to add the word “will” before the main verb.

The main verb is the one that’ll happen in the future, and it doesn’t change.

That means it follows “will” in the infinitive (or the form that you’d find it in the dictionary).

The word “will” also doesn’t change depending on the subject (the person doing the action). That means that whether you start your sentence with “I,” “you,” “he,” “she,” “it,” “we,” “you all” or “they,” the word that follows in the future simple is always “will.”

For example:

I will sleep at nine o’clock.

Here, the main verb (the future action) is “sleep.” It’s in the infinitive or dictionary form. We also added the word “will” before “sleep.”

This shows that the action will be completed in the future.

Here are a couple more examples:

They will eat at a restaurant tomorrow.

We will play a game this afternoon.

Forming the Future Simple in English with Contractions

Now that we have the basics down, let’s look at some other ways this structure can change.

Firstly, the word “will” can combine with the subject to become: -‘ll.

This is called an English contraction.

For example, we could contract “will” in the sentence “I will sleep at nine o’clock” to be “I’ll sleep at nine o’clock.”

The meaning is the same between the two sentences, but the second one with the contraction is a little more informal.

This contraction can happen with the other subjects to get “I’ll,” “you’ll,” “he’ll,” “she’ll,” “it’ll,” “we’ll” and “they’ll.”

Forming the Future Simple in English with “To Go”

Secondly, the future simple can also be formed with the verb “to go.”

This form of the verb “to go” replaces the word “will” in the sentence. This is also an informal way to talk about the future.

To create this, simply make the verb “to be” agree with the subject, add the words “going to” and put in the main verb.

For example:

I’m going to sleep at nine o’clock.

She’s going to play tennis tomorrow.

We’re going to buy clothes next weekend.

We can make this even more informal by shortening “going to” to “gonna.” This is a slang way of talking about a future action.

I’m gonna sleep at nine o’clock.

She’s gonna play tennis tomorrow.

We’re gonna buy clothes next weekend.

How to Form a Question in the Future Simple Tense

To turn the simple future in English into a question, change the places between “will” and the subject.

This would give us a question such as:

Will you go to school?

Will he eat at home?

Will they call you tomorrow?

Note that the answers to these questions are almost always “yes” or “no” (or sometimes “maybe!”).

You can also change the places of the “to be” with the subject to get a yes/no question such as “Are they going to eat dinner?”

To ask for specific information, you can add a Wh- word at the beginning of the sentence.

When will you come to school?

Where is he going to eat dinner?

Who will they call tomorrow?

Keep in mind that the positions of the “will” and the subject (or the “to be” and “going to”) doesn’t change when adding a Wh- word to a question.

How to Form a Negative in the Future Simple Tense

For negatives in the future simple in English, add the word “not” after the words “will,” “to be” or “going to.”

For example:

I will not do my homework.

We are not going to sell our house.

She will not go to the party tonight.

Keep in mind that “will not” often shortens to “won’t” when you’re speaking in informal situations.

This gives us sentences like, “I won’t do my homework.”

Where to Practice the Future Simple in English

You can practice the future simple in many places online. That way, you can use it more naturally in actual English conversations. This will make talking about the future easier, and you can better express your thoughts, wants and ideas.

  • Ego4U. I first recommend this online quiz from Ego4U. It’s a simple fill-in-the-blank activity that has you adding the word “will” into sentences before the verb (the action word) to create sentences that talk about the future.

Are you going to review this guide and practice? Then you will master the future simple in English in no time!

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The Future Simple in English: When and How to Use It | FluentU English Blog (2024)
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