{"id":1633,"date":"2015-04-15T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T16:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=1633"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:46:08","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:46:08","slug":"talking-about-the-future-part-1-present-and-simple-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/talking-about-the-future-part-1-present-and-simple-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking About the Future, Part 1: Present and Simple Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent post, I told you about <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/the-four-present-tenses-and-their-ten-uses\/\">the four present tenses and their ten uses<\/a>. After that, I told you about the <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/the-four-past-tenses-and-their-nine-uses\/\" title=\"The Four Past Tenses and Their Nine Uses\">nine ways you can use the four past tenses<\/a>. Now let\u2019s look at future tense.<\/p>\n<p>In English, the future tense is more flexible than the past or present tenses. What I mean by \u201cflexible\u201d is that there are many more ways to describe the future, compared to the past and present. You can describe the future with six different tenses instead of four. And there are 13 total uses for the tenses that describe future. The future is so flexible in English that you can even use two forms of the present tense to describe it.<\/p>\n<p>All this flexibility is great. But it also means that mastering \u201cfuture talk\u201d is a bit more complicated than mastering \u201cpresent talk\u201d or \u201cpast talk\u201d in English. So we\u2019re going to study the future tense in three posts instead of just one. In this first post, we\u2019ll look at the way that two <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/the-four-present-tenses-and-their-ten-uses\/\">present tenses<\/a> and the simple future tense can be used to describe the future. These three tenses are listed below, with description of their grammar forms and uses.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Present Continuous<\/h2>\n<p><strong><em>Form:<\/em><\/strong> Use a form of \u201cto be\u201d (am, is, are) + verb + ing. (Am doing, is thinking, are trying, and so on.)<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Uses:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Use 1: An action planned in the near future<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">EXAMPLES:<\/span> The science fair <strong>is happening<\/strong> in the school auditorium this weekend. I <strong>am seeing<\/strong> the new movie this weekend.<\/p>\n<p><em>Use 2: An expected future event. This is an event that is not necessarily planned by the speaker or writer, but is still something they expect will happen. While Use 1 of present continuous only deals with the near future, Use 2 can deal with events that will happen in near or distant future.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">EXAMPLES:<\/span> I think the research team <strong>is finishing<\/strong> its work sometime this evening. Some scientists believe the polar ice caps <strong>are melting<\/strong> completely within the next hundred years.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Simple Present<\/h2>\n<p><strong><em>Form:<\/em><\/strong> Just use the base form of the verb, adding an \u201cs\u201d if the subject before the verb is singular. (They leave, the woman leaves, and so on.)<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Uses:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Use 1: A scheduled future event. This is very similar to Use 1 of present continuous above. The difference is that Use 1 of present continuous usually describes events in the near future. Simple present can describe events in the near future or events that will happen a very long time from now.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">EXAMPLES:<\/span> The wedding <strong>is<\/strong> next Monday. The millennium <strong>ends<\/strong> in the year 2999.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Simple Future<\/h2>\n<p><strong><em>Form:<\/em><\/strong> Use will + the base form of the verb. (They will run, she will run, etc\u2026)<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Uses:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Use 1: A future event.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">EXAMPLE:<\/span> I <strong>will see <\/strong>you tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p><em>Use 2: A prediction of what may happen in the future.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">EXAMPLE:<\/span> My grandfather thinks it <strong>will rain<\/strong> soon.<\/p>\n<p><em>Use 3: A promise of future action<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">EXAMPLE:<\/span> I <strong>will finish<\/strong> cleaning my room before I go to bed tonight.<\/p>\n<p><em>Use 4: A request for future action<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">EXAMPLE:<\/span> <strong>Will<\/strong> you <strong>give<\/strong> me the financial report before you go home today?<\/p>\n<p><em>Use 5: A threat to do something bad in the near future<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">EXAMPLE:<\/span> If you bother me again, I <strong>will complain<\/strong> to your boss.<\/p>\n<p><em>Use 6: Describing an event that happens often, and will probably happen again in the future. (This one really describes actions that happen again and again, past present and future, and is not strictly a future form. Because it\u2019s a little different from other uses of simple future, I\u2019ll give you several examples.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">EXAMPLES:<\/span> In Korea and Japan, it <strong>will <\/strong>always <strong>rain<\/strong> a lot in the summer. She loves comic books, so she <strong>will talk<\/strong> a lot if you ask her about comics. The car <strong>will need<\/strong> an oil change every four months. I <strong>will<\/strong> usually <strong>take<\/strong> a shower in the morning.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>\nIn my next post, I\u2019ll talk about the remaining three future tenses: future perfect, future perfect continuous, and future continuous.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve found that students will always have a lot of questions about future tenses. If you have any questions about this post, don\u2019t be shy! Ask your questions in the comment field below, or talk to me at <a href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/118254102412522801745\/posts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">my Google Plus page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ready for Part 2? <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/talking-about-the-future-part-2-the-perfect-and-continuous-futures\/\">Click here<\/a> to learn about the Perfect and Continuous Futures.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent post, I told you about the four present tenses and their ten uses. After that, I told you about the nine ways you can use the four past tenses. Now let\u2019s look at future tense. In English, the future tense is more flexible than the past or present tenses. What I mean [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13603],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-1633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Talking About the Future, Part 1: Present and Simple Future - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/talking-about-the-future-part-1-present-and-simple-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Talking About the Future, Part 1: Present and Simple Future\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a recent post, I told you about the four present tenses and their ten uses. 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What I mean [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/talking-about-the-future-part-1-present-and-simple-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-15T16:00:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T21:46:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Recine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Recine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/talking-about-the-future-part-1-present-and-simple-future\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/talking-about-the-future-part-1-present-and-simple-future\/\",\"name\":\"Talking About the Future, Part 1: Present and Simple Future - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-15T16:00:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/talking-about-the-future-part-1-present-and-simple-future\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/talking-about-the-future-part-1-present-and-simple-future\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/talking-about-the-future-part-1-present-and-simple-future\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Talking About the Future, Part 1: Present and Simple Future\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\",\"name\":\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"description\":\"Online TOEFL Preparation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768\",\"name\":\"David Recine\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/de262e64bb4e3e488753d8c58ff3cc70\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Recine\"},\"description\":\"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C50&amp;q=Recine+magoosh&amp;btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1633"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}