Questions tagged [future]
In grammar, a future tense is a special verb form (inflection) that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet. Germanic languages like English have no future tense inflection, employing alternate mechanisms to indicate future events.
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Is it correct to say: "We were eager to know what would happen in year 2050"?
Is it correct to say the following?
We were eager to know what would happen in year 2050.
In the main clause, the sentence uses past simple tense, but in the object clause which tense should be used-...
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"Timetable future": Why are "I leave at 8 pm" & "I am leaving at 8 pm" OK but not "I eat a pizza at 6 pm" & "I am eating a pizza at 6 pm"?
These four sentences have the same meaning (ignoring perhaps some subtleties/nuances):
I will be leaving at 8 pm.
I will leave at 8 pm.
I leave at 8 pm.
I am leaving at 8 pm.
I understand from "...
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Reported speech about something that is still in the future
He said (in 2015), "Driverless cars will be common by 2020."
My understanding is that today (2024), we definitely backshift:
He said driverless cars would be common by 2020.
But what ...
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Why is present perfect used instead of future "we ve got you" " you ve proved" [duplicate]
Mitch sat back in his chair and took a long sip of his drink. Now the deal was final. He breathed easier and smiled in the direction of the magnificent Caribbean. 'So when do we get your files?' ...
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At this time tomorrow, I am playing cricket [closed]
I know that:
At this time tomorrow, I will be playing cricket.
is used since the so-called future continuous is used to talk about a continuous activity at a specific time in the future. Even ...
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"When" + future perfect usage
A Scots friend of mine corrected my usage of future perfect in this construction:
Right, see you in five years when your mother tongue will have taken another ten steps back.
Maybe the construction ...
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Should I use 'can' or 'will be able to'? "If he fixes your car tonight, you [?] drive it to school tomorrow." [closed]
Should I change "will be able to" to "can" in the bolded sentence from the exchange below?
A: My car broke down and I have to drive to school to pick up my daughter tomorrow. I ...
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SImple present to talk about the future [duplicate]
Here is my question, are both of the following acceptable?
I start dieting after Christmas.
I will start dieting after Christmas.
This is the task from Oxford English Grammar Advanced.
Note: I know ...
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Fill in your application up to 7 days prior to your arrival [duplicate]
I found this sentence in an government-provided online form to visit a country in the Caribbean:
"You can fill in your Online ED Card application up to 7 days prior to your arrival"
It ...
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Can we use adverbs of frequency with "will"? [closed]
I’ve seen this text in which "sometimes" has been used with "will". I assume the sentence is explaining a habit, and I wonder why it’s been said with "will".
Sometimes I'...
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Problems with 'future' and articles [duplicate]
I'm a teacher and was doing articles with my students. This sentence, however, really got me stuck!
We are entering [an] uncertain future.
Why is there an indefinite article here? At first, I ...
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'Will be -ing' or 'Is -ing'?
When teaching Future Continuous vs Future Perfect the other day, a student stumped me with an observation of the following question taken from the 4th Edition of English File by Oxford:
Sonia is ...
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How would you phrase a question to a person that regressed spacetimewise? [closed]
This is quite confusing.
Let's say, there's this person who came back in time to their original state in that particular moment. So, they know exactly how things play out in their timeline point.
How ...
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Usage of doesn't in future tense
Is the following sentence grammatically correct and why?
(a) "I reckon she doesn't come in on Thursday hearing that"
I was told that since the sentence is in future tense and I am expecting ...
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A peculiar use of "shall" in North Carolina's constitution, Art. VI
Article VI of North Carolina's constitution from 1971 contains a provision whose constitutionality is being discussed over at law SE.
Section 8 starts
Sec. 8. Disqualifications for office.
The ...
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Future perfect continuous tense of be verb [closed]
The future perfect continuous tense of 'be' verb is a possibility?
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I will have been being in the cinema industry for 3 months by this Christmas.
Is this type of sentence construction used in the ...
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Over the next 2 weeks [closed]
I need to clarify the time mentioned in this sentence:
Can you please provide me a few dates and times that will suit you over the next 2-3 weeks?
So the dates mentioned should be any day from now ...
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"a certain event will occur by a" particular "period of time" means that said event can occur at any instant of time within said "period of time" [duplicate]
In English, if a person states, "a certain event will occur by a" particular "period of time" then does that mean that said event will occur any time within said "period of ...
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Is the passive constructed correctly: "The city will have been being locked down for 15 days from tomorrow"? [duplicate]
That is what I learned from grammar books.
"I go to the cinema tomorrow" means I am scheduled to go there at that fixed time
“I am going to the movies tomorrow” means I bought the ticket (...
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Rhetorical effects of future tense when describing past event
Just before 2 a.m., as it prepared for its return to Earth, the Crew
Dragon jettisoned what SpaceX calls the “trunk” section of the
spacecraft — the cylindrical compartment below the gumpdrop-shaped
...
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Can one use transpire in the future tense?
My partner used the phrase ".... something planned... whether it transpires or not remains to be seen.".
Now, I don't know for a fact, but I feel that transpir(es/ed) is (or should be) used ...
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usage of when and tense in a conditional sentence? [closed]
There are two conditional sentences which one is more correct grammatically?
When I come home, my children will be playing.
When I come home, my children would be playing.
In the first sentence the ...
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Is the following sentence correct (future)?
I'm working on a presentation concerning COVID-19. I wrote this sentence and I deem the usage of future perfect should be adequate in this context, however I'm not entirely sure whether it's correct ...
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"You'll be hoping for a bit more from the new player, I suppose." Why the future continuous?
“You'll be hoping for a bit more from the new player, I suppose.”
Why the future continuous?
Wouldn't one rather use the future simple instead? If not: why not?
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Why is this sentence 'her train is leaving tomorrow at 10AM' correct? [closed]
The word 'tomorrow' implies that the sentence should be in the future sentence. Wouldn't the correct sentences be 'her train will leave tomorrow at 10AM' or 'her train will be leaving tomorrow at 10AM'...
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Why can’t we use the present continuous for the future with “be” itself by saying “I’m being there tomorrow”’?
The rule we were taught says that present continuous can be used for the future when the action implies “planning and arrangement”.
And yet if I planned to be somewhere tomorrow, I still couldn’t say:
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"Will you hang up?" or "Are you going to hang up?"
Phone call
Person A: "You should get some sleep."
Person B: (worried because they don't want person A to hang up)
"Will you/Are you going to hang up?"
What's ...
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Is there such a thing as a future infinitive in English?
I am currently working on the English idiomatic phrase "Someone is said (to do/to be doing/to have done) something," and, try as I might, I cannot find any worthwhile piece of information ...
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"Will" not used for somebody else's intentions/plans
Page 576 of Collins English Usage reads
When you are talking about your own intentions, you use will or be
going to. When you are talking about someone else's intentions, you
use be going to.
I'll ...
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Any difference in meaning/usage between the phrases "from now on" and "as of now"?
Is there a particular difference in meaning or usage between the phrases "as of now" and "from now on"? Could it be said that the first is more formal or is there more to this?
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Present simple vs. "Would"
Swift code has a column limit of 100 characters. Except as noted below, any line that would exceed this limit must be line-wrapped as described in Line-Wrapping. - https://google.github.io/swift/
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Must things be arranged if I use Present Continuous for the future?
I know that I should use Present Continuous if I decided AND
arranged to do some things. But I'm not sure about that AND. I am wondering if just one of the conditions is enough. For example:
I am ...
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What is the difference between "We are going to study" and "We are going to be studying"? [duplicate]
I want to know when we use "be going to" + be + ing?
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Question aboute a quote from a TV show where I've noticed two different tenses in the same sentence
there is a famous quote from Game of Thrones Episode 10 season 3 where a character says "Any man who must say, "I am the king" is no true king. I'll make sure you understand that when I'...
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Usage of "going to be" [closed]
Is the following grammatically correct?
Hi All,
Today I am going to be sending this model of living room
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"Faster than" using with Future Simple
I'm just wondering if it is right to say that
I'll learn English faster than they will translate this book
=or
I'll learn English earlier than they will translate this book
I'm confused about ...
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Matter of course use of future continuous
I am unable to fully grasp the matter of course use future continuous.
The explanation says;
we use future continuous to talk about something which will happen, if everything happens as we expect
An ...
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Two words related to "anachronism" but having exclusive references to past and future
I'd like to identify two words related to anachronism: one having an exclusive association to past, and the other to future.
According to Lexico, anachronism means:
A thing belonging or appropriate ...
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"This article will discuss / discusses"
I would like if someone can help me with following
"This article will discuss revaluation".
I saw this title on a paper article and I really want to know why they used "will" here ...
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Present perfect continue & perfect
Could anyone tell me if my examples below is correct, I mean, tenses?
"In fact, I've been thinking about keeping this path when I've finished business school..."
"In fact, I've been thinking about ...
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perfect infinitive for future events
Boss tells his workers:
(1) You are to finish this project by the end of next month.
(2) You are to have finished this project by the end of next month.
After a while, one of the workers tells his ...
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Mixing future tense with present tense to describe events in the future
I am translating a song from Russian to English. Original lyrics have a dreamy mood and shift (russian) tense from future to present, back and forth.
This is an example that I made up, not the actual ...
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I'm going to see a doctor tomorrow
Could you please tell me whether the sentences below mean the same to you?
Group A:
I'm going to play basketball tomorrow.
I'm playing basketball tomorrow.
I'll be playing basketball tomorrow.
...
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How to refer to an upcoming month/season/year?
I wanted to know what is the correct way to address a certain day/month/season (I apologize in advance that I might have written the title wrong)
For example, when referring to the summer of 2020 (...
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Everyday alternatives to future perfect tenses [AE]
Every grammar book has a section about Future Perfect tenses, but as this article and the comments point out, I don't really hear this type of language constructions from Americans (including in an ...
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Future tense in reported questions
Context: Boyfriend often stays out late. Girlfriend wants to say that she doesn't worry about this.
Incorrect: "I don't usually ask him when he comes home"
Correct: "I don't usually ask him ...
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What are the "fine" differences in these lines and how not to get confused when thinking about them?
I don't see a team without Messi that reaches the top 3 in the world.(Present)
or
I don't see a team without Messi that can reach the top 3 in the world.(Present with "can")
or
I don't see a team ...
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Any difference between these two (Present or Present Cont.)
"My husband will always invite his friends round for a drink just as I'm trying to put the kids to bed!"
or
"My husband will always invite his friends round for a drink just as I try to put the kids ...
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'Will' or 'Going to'?
I've got two sentences:
And now I'll announce the winner of the competition.
And now I'm going to announce the winner of the competition.
In which sentence the structure is used more accurately?
Are ...
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Why future tense? “This is the last time he’s going to stand me up” [closed]
Why does the second part of the phrase use future tense? Although the event “the last time” is happening now, we refer to it using future tense. It also works with “will:”
“This is the last time he ...
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