Present continuous and going to

Finn Hello again. Welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Finn.

Emma And me, Emma. Hello.

Finn In today’s programme we’re looking at two ways to talk about the future.

Emma Let’s start with some sample sentences. Rob, can we have an example of a future arrangement?

Rob Sure. Farid is meeting his cousin at the airport on Saturday.

Emma Thanks Rob. The sentence Farid is meeting his cousin at the airport on Saturday describes an arrangement, made between two people, to do a particular activity, at a particular time.

Finn Yes, and we can use present continuous, that’s subject plus am , is or are plus verb i-n-g to talk about this type of future arrangement. Now, let ‘s look at going to. We use going to with an infinitive verb to talk about future plans - things we intend to do. An example please Rob?

Rob When I finish university, I’m going to spend a year travelling.

Finn I’m going to spend a year travelling. That sounds like an exciting plan. And another please:

Rob Simon and Ibrahim are going to spend the whole weekend playing football.

Finn So Simon and Ibrahim have some interesting plans too. But, do they seem very similar to arrangements, would you say, Emma?

Emma Well yes, they do. We can often use either the present continuous or going to for future plans.

Finn So we could say: I ‘m meeting some friends for a drink tonight .

Emma Or you could say: I ‘m going to meet some friends for a drink tonight .

Finn But sometimes we can only use going to. Here’s an example.

Rob It’s really cold. I think it’s going to snow.

Finn It ‘s going to snow . That isn’t a plan, and it isn’t an arrangement.

Emma But the speaker can say what’s going to happen, based on the present situation - whatever is happening now.

Finn And to do this, it’s subject plus am , is or are , plus going to plus an infinitive verb without to .

IDENT You’re listening to BBC learning English.

Finn And we’re looking at present continuous for future arrangements, and going to plus a verb to talk about future plans and arrangements - and things we know are going to happen based on the present situation.

Emma That’s right. So, Finn, are you doing anything interesting tonight?

Finn Well, I’m taking my girlfriend to the theatre and the play is starting at 7 o’clock.

Emma Ooh very good. What are you going to [gonna] see?

Finn Aha! Emma I do believe you’re asking me questions about my future arrangements and plans! You asked me a yes/no present continuous question:

Emma Are you doing anything interesting tonight?

Finn And you asked me a question word going to question:

Emma What are you gonna see? You’re quite right Finn, and I used a special short form of going to that we usually only find in informal spoken English: I said gonna . Gonna. It ‘s very common in spoken English. What are you gonna see?

Finn That’s right. The long form is: What are you going to see?

Emma And the informal short form is: What are you gonna see? What are you gonna see?

Finn Well, I’ll tell you later - but first, it’s time for a quiz. So, question 1: Imagine you’re at a football match. Your team is playing really well. Do you say a) I’m sure they’re going to score a goal! Or do you say b) I’m sure they are scoring a goal!

Emma And the answer is a) I ‘m sure they are going to score a goal!

Finn That’s right - based on the present situation - they are playing well - we can talk about a probable future situation with going to: I ‘m sure they are going to score a goal.

Finn Right, question 2 - which is correct? a) We’re gonna going by train. b) We’re going go by train. Or c) We’re gonna go by train.

Emma It’s c) We ‘re gonna go by train . It’s the shorter, spoken form of: We’re going to go by train.

Finn Now, number 3. Which is a correct future sentence: a) Hurry up - the train is leaving. Or b) Hurry up - the train is going to leave in ten minutes?

Emma And the correct answer is b) the train is going to leave in ten minutes. Sentence a) needs a time expression to give it future meaning.

Finn Yes indeed. Well, I’m going to leave in a minute, because I’m going to see a Shakespeare play with my girlfriend. See you next time, Emma!

Emma Don’t forget - there’s lots more about this on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

Both Bye!