Will, going to, might, be likely to

Catherine Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Catherine.

Finn And me, Finn. In this programme, we’re bringing you four different phrases that we use to talk about the future.

Catherine That’s right, we’re looking at will , going to, might and be likely to .

Finn We’ll tell you when we use each one…

Catherine We’ll look at their forms…

Finn And there’ll be a quiz to test what you’ve learned. Let’s get started. Catherine, can you give us an example sentence with will :

Catherine I can Finn. My example sentence is: I will be 29 years old next Tuesday.

Finn That’s amazing. I thought it was Wednesday. It’s my birthday next Tuesday, too. I’m going to be 28.

Catherine Really?!

Finn No, it was just an example with going to!

Catherine And mine was just an example with will .

Finn So, for something we know that will happen for certain, we can use will or going to with an infinitive verb without to. We can often use either will or going to with no change in meaning. So I said: I’m going to be 28.

Catherine …and I said: I will be 29 next Tuesday .

Finn But… if we are sure that something is going to happen in the future, because of something that is happening in the present, it’s best to use going to . And here’s Neil with an example:

Neil Look at that clear blue sky! It’s going to be a lovely day.

Catherine OK, so we don’t usually look out of the window and say: Look at that clear blue sky! It will be a lovely day.

Finn Not usually. It’s usually going to when something happens now that makes us know what will happen later. So that’s will and going to. Now, sometimes we are not so certain that something is going to happen …

Catherine …and that’s when we use might or might not plus an infinitive without to . Examples please, Neil?

Neil I might move to New York next year. It depends on work.

We might not come to the party. Our daughter isn’t well at the moment.

Catherine We can also express future uncertainly with be likely to plus an infinitive. B e likely to is a bit more certain than might. Neil.

Neil There’s a lot of traffic. The journey is likely to take more than three hours.

Catherine Thank you. And for negatives we use, be not likely to, or, more often, be unlikely to, again, with an infinitive. For example:

Neil He hasn’t trained very hard. He’s not likely to win the race.

It’s a long way. The journey is unlikely to take less than three hours.

IDENT 6 Minute Grammar, from BBC Learning English.

Finn And we’re talking about will , going to, might and be likely to . Let’s look at questions. For will, going to and likely to , the word order is: will , going to , or be likely to , plus subject plus verb . Here are some examples.

Neil Will they win the election? Yes, they will .

Is he going to resign? No, he won’t .

Is she likely to pass? Yes, she is .

Catherine We can also start with a question word:

Neil When will my order arrive ?

Who will win the World Cup?

Finn It’s possible to ask questions with might plus subject plus infinitive , but you may hear questions with Do you think plus subject plus might plus infinitive, like this:

Neil Do you think it might rain later?

Catherine And now, it’s quiz time! Question one. Which is correct? a) Jane and Joe likely to get married this year or b) Jane and Joe are likely to get married this year?

Finn And the answer’s b) Jane and Joe are likely to get married this year. Number two. Which is correct? a) I might not to go to the cinema tonight or b) I might not go to the cinema tonight.

Catherine The correct answer is b) I might not go to the cinema tonight. Number three. Which is correct? a) My birthday is likely to be on Saturday next year. Or b) My birthday will be on Saturday next year.

Finn And the answer is b) My birthday will be on Saturday next year. 29 again, Catherine! That’s the end of the quiz. Well done if you got those right.

Catherine And that’s also the end of the show. There’s more about this on our website at bbclearningenglish.com. Join us again for more 6 Minute Grammar.

Both Bye!