Means of expressing futurity

MEANS OF EXPRESSING FUTURITY

1.    a) Various concepts on the future tense in English

The future is uncertain. We know the past, we know the present, we do not know the future. We can be 100% sure or certain about the past and the present. But we can never be 100% sure about the future. In English there are several structures and tenses to talk about the future. It is usually the degree of certainty about the future that decides our choice of structure or tense. Although we often talk about “future tenses”, technically there are no future tenses in English, only different ways of talking about the future, using special constructions, other tenses or modal verbs.

Any consideration of future forms in English will at once come across the vexed questions of whether English posses such a thing as a “future tense”. It is questionable whether English posses such a structure, as Comrie (1990:4, quoted from www.) points out, “most European languages have a clear grammatical distinction between past and non-past…but either no grammatical distinction or a much less clear grammatical distinction between future and non-future”. This may well be because expressions of future time derive diachronically from modal expressions, example of desiderative, such as the English WILL.

Hornstein (1990:35, quoted from www.) states confidently that “English has a future tense and WILL is the modal that marks it”, going on the claim that “WILL as future tense acts quite differently from modal WILL”. However, there are good reasons to doubt this claim, as Lyons (1997:677, quoted from www) points out, “Futurity is never a purely temporal concept; it necessarily includes an element of prediction or some related notions.” It is worth noting that in predictive sentences “will” can be replaced by other epistemic modals, resulting in a loss of certainty but not of futurity.

If we accept for the sake of argument that WILL , whatever time it refers to, is a modal operator, the question remains as to what it conveys. Palmer (1979,1986, quoted from www) lists no less than seven functions of WILL (of which only one is epistemic), while from the point of view of speech act theory (for example Austin (1962), Coulthard (1985, quoted from www)), WILL can be directive (You will do it/ Will you do it?), commisive ( I’ll do it) or deductive (He will do it). The process for determining the particular meaning of WILL is dealt with in some details by Ney (1981), who also provides a useful componential analysis of the various modals.

The Futurates referred to are the Simple Present and Present Progressive “tenses”; there are also good reasons for grouping the structure BE GOING TO with the Futurates. The notable feature of these is that the form in each case uses the Present either in the main verb or with the auxiliary BE, so it is perhaps not unreasonable to assume, with Binnick (1991:389, quoted from www) that this is due to the present’s having “current relevance”. Smith (1991:256) points out, “the Futurate requires some kind of plan, schedule, control or pattern of events” , and many if not most of these have some reference to past events.

The Simple Present or “Tense less Future” is usually associated with fixed schedules, as in “The train leaves at five-thirty”. However, this does not seem to be a prerequisite for the use of this form, as shown by Dowtys (1979:160) :

“Oh, number five wins the competition.”

“His performance was unquestionably better than the others.”

The crucial feature of this Futurate seems to be that “the outcome of the matter has already been decided.” We might add here “not by the subject”, since the only cases where actions originally initiated by the subject take this form are sentences such as “I leave tomorrow” where although the subject may have initiated a chain of events (by booking a place on a tour, for example) it is now seen as outside their control. This parallels Weckers (1976) view that Present Progressive Futurate indicates a human agent, while the Simple Present the agent is an event. It is sometimes suggested that the Simple Present Futurate implies certainty on the part of the speaker. While this may normally be the case, it is not necessarily so (Dowty, 1979”160-161). On some rail networks, the statement “The train leaves at five-thirty” may be more a matter of faith than certainty; “The train will leave at five-thirty” may actually inspire more confidence. Without delving into “possible words” and intentional logic, the best explanation seems to be that this form carries a sense of “ in the normal course of events” or “ceteris paribus”.

The use of the Present progressive seems bound to general considerations of the Progressive aspect. Perhaps the most elegant way of describing this is found in Hofmann (1993:127-129), following Reichenbach (1947). If an events E has a beginning B and a finish F, then a predicate using the Progressive would normally imply: B<R and F>R, where R is the time referred to, and the symbols mean “before” and “after” respectively. If R=S (the time of speaking), then we use the Present Progressive. This explains the choice of Present Progressive for actions which are actually taking place at the same time of speaking.

“I am writing an essay now”.

but leaves the question of why we would use this form for actions in the future. Hofmann explains this by saying that an action in the past sets in motion an event in the future, bringing forward the beginning of that event. Dowty(1979:154) although working from a different analysis, takes a similar view of “a psychological tendency of humans to extend the temporal duration of an accomplishment…backward in time to include the preparations for the accomplishment proper”.

An alternative way to view this is to postulate an “overall” event which includes both the past an the future events. If we take as an example the sentence

“I am flying to Istanbul”,

we have three events:

E1, an action the subject took which initiates E2

E2 , future event (flying to Istanbul)

E, the overall event whose B=E1 and F=E2, E1 can be an act such as buying a ticket, making a reservation, or simply announcing the intention to fly.

The syntax of E is thus:

SUBJECT+BE+E2

An interesting feature is that it is not necessary to refer to E at all; E entails E1, E2, but does not require the speaker to state it explicitly. It is this feature which makes the Progressive Futurate so suitable for “lying with grammar”, as in the famous

“I’m washing my car tonight.”

Future tense: does it exist in English?

The commonsense view is that it does, and traditional grammarians support this view. After all, we can say

“They will arrive tomorrow.”

But most modern grammarians (including Noam Chomsky and Michael Halliday) insist that there is no such tense only a present and past tense. Stern goes on to mention Crystal (“English has no future tense ending…Rather future time is expressed by a variety of other means. One of these- the use of WILL or SHALL – is often loosely referred to as the “future tense”. But this usage changes the meaning of the word “tense” so that it no longer refers only to the use of verb endings”), then contasts Crystall’s views with those of Jesperson, Robert Burcfield and Celia Millward (all of whom point to the semantic development, in terms of (pure) futurity, of the auxiliaries WILL and SHALL

In conclusion Stern says:

“so the question of whether English has a future tense boils down to whether we should count only forms with certain endings (inflections) as “tenses” or whether the term “tense” can also encompass forms constructed with auxiliary verbs such as “shall” and “will”. A comparison of English with Italian is interesting. Are we to say, then, that Italian has four tenses because they are all inflected and English only two because only two are inflected? I believe not. Or are we to say that “I found” is tensed in English because it has no auxiliary, but “I did not find” is not tensed because it has the auxiliary “did”? Surely not?

Lewis says:

“If most native speakers are asked for the future of “I hit him”, they suggest “I’ll hit him”. There is a tendency even for native speakers to believe that WILL is the “future” in English. We have seen that this is not technically true, it is not possible to identify the expression “if Future Time” with WILL/SHALL/’LL, nor WILL/SHALL/’LL with the expression of Future Time. Nonetheless, it is clear that the unstressed form “ll”, expressing as it does a concept of weak inevitability to a “mental future”. It is interesting to speculate that the “ll” form is evolving in the direction of a neutral future-an English “future tense”…It means that there is a morphological change in the base form of the verb. A verb which is made with an auxiliary is not, in this technical meaning a tense.”

(quoted from www)

In linguistics, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by a verb as not having happened yet, but expected to in the future.

Future tense in Latin

The future tense forms in Latin varied by conjugation. Here is a sample of the future tense for the first conjugation verb “amare”, “to love”

amabo                                I will/shall love.

amabis You (singular) will love.

amabit                                He, she , it will love.

amabimus We will love.

amabitis                             You (plural) will love.

amabunt                             They will love.

This method of producing the future tense in Latin was replaced in the Romance languages by another form using the Infinitive plus an ending.

Future tense in French

French has three forms of future tense: the “futur proche”, the “futur simple” and the “futur parfait”.

Futur Simple

The “futur simple” is made simply taking the infinitive of the verb and adding the correct form of “avoir” (to have) to the end of the word. In the “nous” and “vous” forms of the word, the ending is instead just “-ous” and “-ez” respectively. However, there are also some French verbs for which an irregular stem is used, such as “aller” (to go) and “etre” (to be). For instance:

Je mange I eat.

Je magerai I will eat.

Nous allons We go.

Nous irons We will go.

The “futur simple” usually refers to events that will happen further away in time than the “futur proche”.

Futur proche

The “futur proche” uses the correct present form of “aller” (to go) and has the infinitive after:

“je mange, je vais manger= I eat, I will eat.”

Notice that the “futur proche” which resembles the “be-going to future”, actually translates as the WILL future, while the “futur simple” is the opposite!

Futur parfait

Equivalent of English “I will have”. Formed by using the future form of “aller” or “etre”, plus the past participle.

Il aura mange                         He will have eaten

Je sera parti                            I will have left

Il sera venu                             He will have come

Future tense in Spanish

In Spanish, there are three main tenses that describe the future: the “futuro simple”, “futuro con IR”, and the “futuro perfecto”.

Futuro Simple

The “futuro simple” is formed by, excluding the irregular verbs (for example “querer “(to want), “salir” (to go out)), appending the following to the end of the infinitive form of a verb:

Ending Form Verbs

1^st person singular

-ás 2^nd person informal singular

3^rd person singular, 2^nd person formal singular

-emos                   1^st person plural

-áis 2^nd person informal plural

-án 3^rd person plural, 2^nd person formal plural

The English equivalent is “will/shall” verb.

Irregular Stems of the Futuro Simple

Irregular stems include:

Verb (Meaning) Stem

salir (to go out) saldr-

venir (to come) vendr-

poder (to be able) podr-

valer (to be worth) valdr-

decir( to say/tell) dir-

querer(to want) querr-

Note that this irregulars stems are also used in the conditional tense.

Futuro con IR

The “futuro con IR” is, as its name implies, formed by using the present form of IR (to go), the preposition “a” and the infinitive form of the desired verb. Usually, this translates in English as “to be going to verb”

Voy a comprar I’m going to buy

Vas a decir You’re going to tell

Vamos a escuchar We’re going to listen

Futuro Perfecto

The “futuro perfecto” is formed by using the simple future form of the verb “haber” (to have) and the past participle of the desired verb. The English equivalent is “will have pasta participle of verb”.

Yo habría comprador I will have bought

ĖL habría leido He will have read

Nosotromos habríamos ido We will have left

Many Romance languages use the future tense not to express a real future but to refer to a supposition or a statement about habit, for example in Spanish :

“Serán las once” It will be 11 o’clock - meaning –“I suppose it’s around 11, it must be 11 by now.”

Future tense in English is redundant! Philosophically speaking, future could only be a tense if it is completely deterministic. An example of this would be Newton’s first law of motion:

“A body will remain at rest or in a state of uniform motion unless it is acted upon by a force.”

We are limited by languages to expressing this modality despite the fact that is completely deterministic. “Root modality, which is most strongly expressed by WILL when it is nearest in meaning to a future tense, is deterministic.”

Root modality consists of:

1)     deontic modality- trying to control something in the real world;

2)     dynamic modality- subject oriented. Ability is an inherent quality whether I as the speaker recognize it or not, so is volition.

Somebody may attempt to control something in the real world and not manage to do it. Epistemic modality (the third type of modality) is probabilistic, this word is the opposite of deterministic as such, future is truly modal where the sense is epistemic.

b) Future with intention / Future without intention

An action that takes place in the future is not under the control of the speaker as are actions that took place in the past or are taking place in the present. Linguistic frustration as to the action that is to take place in the future is seem in the fact that in English there are few future tenses proper, but a larger number of means of expressing futurity. Anglo-Saxon speakers feel uncomfortable that they cannot have real control over future actions and, consequently, they have “invented” a variety of means used to express an action that will take place in the future.

Up to a certain point all these means are synonymous in the fact that they all express a future action; but synonymy stops at this point as each of these means differs from the others in various ways. There are several characteristics that make the various means of expressing futurity different:

intentionality- the future action will be under the speaker’s wishes. The future with intention forms are more likely to take place than the others, which the speaker does not wish to perform.

an arrangement that may be implied- which, again, makes that form of future action more likely to be performed than others in which no material or moral investment has been made.

the simple statement of a future action- or otherwise called “future without intention” states that a certain action will happen. “We don’t know whether it was arranged by the subject or by some other person and we don’t know what the subject thinks of it.”

a decision or plan without any definite arrangement.

A note on the meaning of future with intention

When we say that a form expresses future with intention we mean that it expresses a future action which will be undertaken by the speaker in accordance with his wishes.

-WILL+ infinitive

-BE GOING TO

these are forms that can be used in this way.

When we say that a form expresses future without intention we mean that it merely states that a certain action will happen. We don’t know whether it was arranged by the subject or by some other person and we don’t know what the subject thinks of it.

The present tense and the future continuous tense can be used in this way. The present continuous tense in the second or third person conveys no idea of intention, though there may be a hint of intention when the first person is used. The simple future (apart from WILL+-ing) normally conveys no idea of intention.

WILL+ infinitive used to express intention at the moment of decision:

a)     “The phone is ringing- I will answer it.”

b)     BILL (to waiter): “I’ll have a steak, please.” (“would like” is also possible)

c)      ANN: “I’d better order a taxi for tonight.”

TOM: “Don’t bother. I will drive you.”

d)     MARY: (looking at a pile of letters): “I will answer them tonight.”

e)     PAUL: (who is getting fat and tired of paying parking fines):

“I know what to do . I will sell my car and buy a bike.”

f)      ALAN: (on receiving a telegram saying his father is ill):

“I’ll go home tonight. I’ll leave tonight

For unpremeditated actions, as above, we must use WILL (normally contracted to “ll”. But note that if after his decision the speaker mentions the action again, he will not use “will”, but “be going to” or the present continuous. ( “be going to” is always possible; the present continuous has a more restricted use.)

a)     Ann might say:

“Tom is driving me/ is going to drive me to the airport tonight…”

b)     Mary, however could only say:

“I’m going to answer these letters tonight.” (She hasn’t made an arrangement with anybody)

c)      Paul, similarly could say:

“I’m going to sell the car.” Though when he finds a buyer he can say

“I’m selling the car.”

d)     Alan, however could say:

“I’m going home tonight.” Even though this is, as yet, only a decision

The “be going to “ form used for intention

The “be going to” form expresses the subject’s intention to perform a certain future action. This intention is always premeditated and there is usually also the idea that some preparation for the action has already been made. Actions expressed by the “be going to” form are therefore usually considered very likely to be performed, though there is not the same idea of definite future arrangements that we get from the present continuous.

The following points may be noted:

1. As already shown, “be going to” can be used for the near future with a time expression as an alternative to the present continuous, we can say:

“I’m / I am meeting Tom at the station at six.”

“I’m / I am going to meet Tom at the station at six.”

But note that “I’m meeting Tom” implies an arrangement with Tom. “I’m going to meet Tom” does not: “Tom may get a surprise”.

2. “be going to” can be used with time classes when we wish to emphasize the subject’s intention:

“He is going to be a dentist when he grows up.”

“What are you going to do when you get your degree?.”

Normally, however, the future simple (shall/ will) is used with time clauses.

3. “be going to”  can be used without a time expression:

“I’m going to play you a Bach fugue.”

“He is going to lend me his bicycle.”

It then usually refers to the immediate or near future.

4. As seen in (2) above, the “be going to” form can be used with the verb “to be”. It is also sometimes found with other verbs not normally used in the continuous tenses:

“I am going to think about it.”

“I’m sure I’m going to like it.”

But on the whole it is safer to use the future simple here.

5. Note that it is not very usual to put the verbs GO and COME into the “be going to” form. Instead we generally use the present continuous tense:

instead of “I am going to go” we normally say “I am going” and instead of “I am going to come” we very often say “I am coming.”

Comparison of the use of “be going to” and “will+ infinitive” to express intention

Very often we can use either the “be going to “form and “will+ infinitive”, but there are differences between them, as a result of which there are occasions when only one of them is possible. The chief difference is:

1. The “be going to” form always implies a premeditated intention and often an intention plus a plan, “will+ infinitive” implies intention only, though not necessarily, unpremeditated. If , therefore, preparations for the action have been made, we must use “be going to”

“I have bought some bricks and I am going to build a garage.”

If the intention is clearly unpremeditated, we must use “will+ infinitive”:

“There is somebody at the hole door.”

“I will go and open it.”

When the intention is neither clearly premeditated nor clearly unpremeditated, either “be going to” or “will+ infinitive” may be used:

“I will/ am going to climb the mountain one day.”

“ I won’t /am not going to tell you my age.”

But “will” is the best way of expressing determination:

“I will help you”. (with stress on will). This means “I definitely intend to help you.”

Other differences

2. As already noted, “will+ infinitive” in the affirmative is used almost entirely for the first person. Second and third person intentions are therefore normally expressed by “be going to”

“He is going to resign.”

“Are you going to leave without paying?”

3. But in the negative “won’t” can be used for all persons. So we can say:

“He isn’t going to resign.”

“He won’t resign.”

But note that “won’t” used for a negative intention normally means “refuse”:

“He won’t resign =He refuses to resign.”

“He isn’t going to resign” normally means “He doesn’t intend to resign.”

4. “be going to” , as already stated , usually refers to the fairly immediate future. WILL can refer either to the immediate or to the more remote future.
5. More examples of “be going to” and “will”:
• Examples of “be going to” used to express intention:

“What are you doing with that space?”

“I am going to plant some apple trees.”

PROIECT: Absurdul - categorie estetico-literara derivata din cultivarea in fertilele PROIECT: INCEPUTURILE LITERATURII CULTE (primii scriitori „profesionisti”)

“She has bought some wool; she is going to knit a jumper.”

“Why are you taking down all the pictures?”

“I am going to repair the room.”

“Why is he carrying his guitar?”

“He is going to play in the Underground.”

Note that it would not be possible to substitute “will” for “be going to” in any of the above examples, as in each of them there is clear evidence of premeditation.

Examples of “will+ infinitive”

“This is a terribly heavy box.”

“I will help you carry it.”

“I’ve left my watch upstairs.”

“I’ll go and get it for you.”

“Who will post this letter for me?”

“I will.”

“Will you lend me $100?”

“No, I won’t.”

The Future Continuous used to express future without intention

Example:

“I’ll be helping Mary tomorrow.”

This does not imply that the speaker has arranged to help Mary or that he wishes to help her. It merely states that this action will happen. The Future Continuous tense used in this way is somewhat similar to the Present Continuous, but differs from it in the following points:

The Present Continuous tense implies a deliberate future action. The Future Continuous tense usually implies an action which will occur in the normal course of events. It is therefore less definite and more casual than the Present Continuous.

“I am seeing Tom tomorrow.”

“I’ll be seeing Tom tomorrow.”

the first implies that Tom or the speaker has deliberately arranged the meeting, but the second implies that Tom and the speaker will meet in the ordinary course of events. (perhaps they work together)

The difference is not always very important, however, and very often either tense can be used. We can say:

“He’ll be taking his exam next week.” OR

“He is taking his exam next week.”

“He won’t be coming to the party.” OR

“He isn’t coming to the party.”

The Present Continuous can only be used with a definite time and for the near future, while the Future Continuous can be used with or without a definite time and for the near or distant future. We can say:

“I am meeting him tomorrow.” BUT

“I’ll be meeting him tomorrow/ the next year/ some time”. (or without a time expression at all)

The Future Continuous and WILL +infinitive compared

A.     There is approximately the same difference between “will+ infinitive” and the Future Continuous as between “will+ infinitive” and the Present Continuous. “will+ infinitive” expresses future with intention. The Future Continuous expresses future without intention. In this sentence:

“I’ll write to Mr. Pitt and tell him about Tom’s new house.”

the verb in bold type expresses intention. The speaker announces a deliberate future action in accordance with his own wishes. But in the sentence:

“I’ll be writing to Mr. Pitt and tell him about Tom’s new house.”

the verb in bold type expresses no intention. It is a mere statement of fact and implies that this letter to Mr. Pitt will be written either as a matter of routine or for reasons unconnected with Tom’s new house. Similarly:

“Tom won’t cut the grass.” means Tom refuses to cut it, while,

“Tom won’t be cutting the grass” is a mere statement of fact, giving no information about Tom’s feelings. Perhaps Tom is away, or ill, or will be doing some other job.

B.     “will+ infinitive” can express invitation, request or command:

“Will you have a cigarette?”

“Will you help me to lift the piano?”

“You will work in this room.”

-the Future Continuous can have none of the above meanings:

“Will you please bring the piano in here?” (request) = Yes sir/ Ok.

But,

“Will you be bringing the piano in here?” (question only) = Yes, I think I will

No, I think I’ll put it upstairs.

“You will work in this office.” (command)

But,

“You will be working here .”(only a statement)

As before, the present Continuous could be used here instead of the Future Continuous, provided that a time expression was added.

NOTE: All these forms of expressing futurity will be dealt with more extendedly in the next chapter, CHAPTER II.

Questions about intentions

There are usually expressed by the Present Continuous, the “be going to” form or the Future Continuous. This last tense is a particularly useful interrogative form as it is considered more polite then the others. So, we may say:

(a)   “Where are you playing/ are you going to play/will you be playing golf?”

(b)   “What kind of jam are you going to make/ will you be making?”

-“will+ infinitive” is less usual than the others forms and is rarely found at the beginning of a sentence. (this is to avoid confusion, because “will you+ infinitive” at the beginning of a sentence usually introduces a request). It is however used in conditional sentences and when the speaker is offering something or asking the other person to make a decision.

“What will you do if he is not on the plane?”

“Will you have a drink?”

“Will you have your meal now or later?”

More examples of questions based on the sentences in A above:

(c)    If we are questioning Andrew we will probably say:

“What are you going to do/ What will you be doing in the garden?” (though “What will you do?” would also be possible)

And

“Are you going to cut /Will you cut the grass?” would sound more like a request.

(d)   To Ann we would probably say :

“If you take them, where will you go?” (though “Where will you be going ?” is possible too)

(e)   To Bill we could say:

“Will you be working all day?”

This is the only possible form if we wish to convey the idea that Bill works on Sunday because it is the routine, not from choice.

Note that the Future Continuous must of course be used in questions of the type “What will you be doing this time next week?” regardless of whether the action is intentional or not.

2. Means of expressing futurity

Future time reference is achieved in English in several ways and the so-called Future Tense is only one of them. The different means which can be used to express the idea of future have their own shades of meaning and are therefore not always interchangeable.

“There are five chiefs ways of expressing future time in the English verb phrase. The five means of referring to future time can be arranged along a scale of certainty in the following way:

Simple Present (more certain)

Simple Future

Future Continuous

Be Going To (least certain)

Present Progressive (least certain)” (G. Leech:65)

a)     The Future Simple (Shall/ Will Future

Form:

This tense is formed of the auxiliaries SHALL/ WILL followed by the short infinitive of the main verb. SHALL is normally used in the 1^st person singular/plural. This use is more frequent in formal British English, while in informal contexts, as well as in American English it is often replaced by WILL. WILL is used in the 2^nd and 3dr persons singular/plural.

Uses and values

The Future Simple is used to denote actions to be performed in the future (after the present moment). Thus, the Future Simple is used for predictions about the future (describing something we know or expect will happen), for announcements of future plans. The performance of a future action or the occurrence of an event in the future may be caused by objective circumstances or may depend on a condition

“I shall/ will be 20 next week.”    (formal, colloquial English)

“My horoscope says that next year will bring me success and happiness.”

“It will be windy tomorrow.”

“There will be rain in places.”

“He’ll come back next week.”

“Will they open the exhibition tomorrow?”

Syntactically, the Future Simple is particularly common in:

-the main clause of Temporal and Conditional sentences (the future is not used in the subordinate clause of Time and Condition. The Present Tense is used instead):

“When it gets warmer, the snow will start to melt.”

“She will forgive you if you apologize to her.”

“You will feel better if you take your medicine regularly.”

Object clauses introduced by verbs which express the speaker’s opinion or assumption about the future; “believe, hope, suppose, think, I’m sure, I’m afraid”

“I suppose they’ll sell their house.”

“Do you think it will rain?”

“I promise I’ll be on time.”

Common time markers (time expressions) with Future Simple are adverbials of future time such as: “tomorrow”, combinations with “next” (next week/ month/year/Sunday), prepositional phrases introduced by “in” (in the future, in two years, in ten day’s time), expressions with “from now” (two weeks from now), etc.

Apart from expressing pure futurity, SHALL and WILL can acquire modal value when used in other persons than specified above, or when used in some special constructions (interrogative, negative). The fact that these modal auxiliaries WILL and SHALL are listed here is not because it is thought that they are part of a temporal expression with future time reference, but because tradition has it that the two verbs express futurity. Here is Smith’s argument (1978:49) for not including WILL among the tense markers:

First, note that WILL can occur with present and past, as well as future sentences:

“The store will have your book by now.”

“The documents will have arrived last week.”

“The library will have the book by tomorrow.”

in these sentences, the reference time is fixed by the adverbial of time and the tense of the sentence: namely, in the first sentence above, the RT (reference time) is specified by the adverbial “by now” and the present tense form of the sentence. WILL is the modal auxiliary which signifies prediction; a rough paraphrase of the sentence would be:

“The store probably has your book by now.”

the second sentence has the RT specified by “last week” and the perfect infinitive form of the verb: RT past, again, WILL is the modal auxiliary of prediction and the sentence could be roughly paraphrased by:

“The documents probably arrived last week.”

the last sentence contains a prediction for the future, the RT is specified by “tomorrow” and the present tense form of the verb; WILL indicates prediction; a possible paraphrase of the sentence could be:

“The library probably has the book by tomorrow.”

If WILL were to be treated as a future, it would be necessary to set up at least one other WILL to account for the above sentences; but this would be undesirable, since all have the same predictive meaning. Moreover, WILL is not the only predictive form that appears in future and other RTs; there is no reason to give it a different status from that of MAY, for instance. It is evident that WILL and other modal verbs occur with present and past tense. With present tense modals have either present or future RT depend on the type of adverbs with which they co-occur exactly like all the others verbs:

“Allan will be in Bucharest now.”

“I am playing now.”

“Mary will be in Sibiu tomorrow.”

“She is working tomorrow.”

As a modal expressing prediction WILL and SHALL in the first person have been used in contexts in which it was appropriate to make predictions:

“Tomorrow’s weather will be cold and cloudy.”

“The next budget will have to be a severe one.”

“Perhaps I’ll change my mind after I have spoken to my wife.”

Leech (1971:53, cited from Stefanescu Ioana, English Morphology) makes an observation that supports this analysis of WILL as a modal expressing prediction and not as a auxiliary of future time: “Frequently a sentence with WILL/SHALL is incomplete without an adverbial of definite time.”

Example:

“It will rain.”

“The room will be cleaned.”

-these sentences are relatively unacceptable on their own, presumably because of their factual emptiness: we all feel certain that “it will rain” at some time in the future, so there is no point in saying “It will rain” unless an actual time can be forecast. If WILL were an element to specify future time reference, these sentences would be correct, which they are not.

Leech also remarks that the sense of prediction that characterizes SHALL/WILL makes BE GOING TO the closest expression that can substitute for it; WILL/SHALL can be replaced by BE GOING TO if the event is signaled by an adverb, or is made clear by the situation:

“What will happen now?” = “What is going to happen?”

“Will you be gone long?” = “Are you going to be gone long?”

-“be going to” is probably the more common choice when the event is in the near future.

(Leech: 1971:57)

Examples of WILL and SHALL with modal value; SHALL acquires special values:

● in the 1^st person singular/plural interrogative sentences it expresses:

- request for advice or suggestion:

“Where shall I put the books?”

“What shall we do this afternoon?”

“Let’s go for a walk.”

“I’ve lost my bag, what shall I do?”

making an offer:

“Shall I open the door?” (=Do you want me to open the door?)

“Shall we carry those bags for you?”

● in the 2^nd and 3^rd persons singular/plural SHALL expresses the speaker’s (subject’s) intention to perform a certain action as well as a command. Both these uses are rather formal, old-fashioned and are normally avoided in spoken English.

- the speaker’s intention to perform a certain action:

“They shall have my support.” (promise, determination)

“You shall have your money by the end of the week.”

“They shall not pass.” (We won’t allow them to come here.)

“He shan’t come here.” (I won’t let him come)

Note: modal SHALL is replaced by suitable equivalents in Reported Speech:

“He said ‘They’ll have my support’”

“He promised them his support”

-command, formal instruction:

“Each competitor shall wear a number.”

“All students shall attend classes regularly.”

“Applicants shall fill in a form.”

This construction is chiefly used in regulations, legal documents, or older texts. (example: The Bible, -Thou shalt not kill-) .In less formal English MUST, HAVE TO or TO BE would be used instead of SHALL in the above sentences.

The same modals replace SHALL in Reported / Indirect Speech

“Each competitor shall wear a number” => The regulations say that each competitor must/has to/is to wear a number => The regulations said that each competitor must/ had to /was to wear a number.”

WILL expresses modal values:

●in the 1^st person singular/plural expresses unpremeditated intention, immediate decision:

“Can somebody help me? I will.”

“It’s hot in here. I’ll open the window.”

“I’ve said before, but now I really will stop smoking.”

●in the 2^nd, 3^rd persons singular/plural, interrogative sentences WILL expresses willingness: request, invitation:

“Will you do me a favor?” (request)

“Will you give me a helping hand?”

“Will you come in please?” (invitation)

●in negative sentences WILL expresses absence of willingness, refusal:

“I won’t see him again.” (=I refuse to see him gain.)

Compared

“I shan’t see him again.” (There will be no opportunity for another meeting)

WILL contrasted with WANT/WISH/WOULD LIKE

1. WILL –must not be confused with WANT/WISH/WOULD LIKE

WILL expresses an intention plus a decision to fulfill it:

“I will buy it =I intend to buy it/ I am going to buy it.”

WANT/WISH/WOULD LIKE merely express a desire. They do not give any information about intended actions.

2. However, “I’d like” is often a possible alternative to “I’ll have/take”

“I’d like /I’ll have a pound of peas, please.”

DINER (in a restaurant)

“I’d like /I’ll have the soup, please.”

Both can be used for invitations:

“Would you like a drink?”     OR

“Will you have a drink?”

When accepting an invitation, we can use either form:

“I’d like/I’ll have the cherry, please.”

But the two forms are not interchangeable in the negative, so if we wish to refuse an invitation, we must say:

“I won’t have anything, thanks.” OR

“I don’t want anything, thanks.”

-“wouldn’t like” means “would dislike”, so, could not be used in here.

b)     Future Continuous

Form:

It is formed of the Future Simple of the auxiliary BE plus the present Participle of the main verb:

“I shall /will be working.”

Uses and values

It denotes an action in progress at a given time in the future: like the Past Continuous, the Future Continuous is generally used to set up a background or a frame activity that is in progress at a certain future time or when another action takes place. This use can be represented on the temporal axis as follows:

Now a given /certain future time/action

────────×─────────────×───────────────────────

│

Future Continuous

Traditional grammars list the structure “Will/ Shall be working” among the means of expressing future time reference. Here are some typical examples:

“This time next week I shall be sailing across the Atlantic.”

“Don’t phone me at seven o’clock- I shall be eating my supper.”

Consider the first sentence:

-the temporal characterization of the sentence is the following one: the RT is future specified by the future adverbial “this time next week” and the Simple Present tense form; the temporal expression of the sentence is future. The verb has progressive form, the verb is an activity verb which, at RT will be in its progression; the modal WILL has its predictive sense. Therefore, the sentence predicts that “this time next week” the activity of sailing across the Atlantic will be in its progression.

The same explanation can be considered for the second sentence: therefore the future interpretation of the sentence does not result from the “will+ progressive infinitive”, but from the adverbial specification of the sentence.

Leech (1971:62, cited from Stefanescu Ioana, English Morphology) also remarks that these examples show that “the action is typically associated with a future point of time round which it forms a temporal frame.” In this, the Future Progressive with WILL is like the Past Progressive and Present Progressive. Leech however, considers the following sentences entirely different from the ones above:

“The train will be arriving at eight o’clock.”

“I shall be writing to you soon.”

“When will you be moving to your new house?”

To us the sentences seem to allow the same semantic interpretation: consider the 1^st sentence:

●RT is future, specified by “eight o’clock” and the present tense; the aspectual form, the progressive indicates that the event described in the sentence unfolds at RT= eight o’clock; the modal WILL has its expected prediction sense. Hence the semantic interpretation of the sentence is: prediction that the event of the train’s arriving unfolds at RT. Pragmatically such a sentence will be favored in those contexts in which we would like to indicate that the prediction has a high degree of certainty, we are so sure that the event takes place, that we can state in connection with a posterior RT, that the respective event will be in its progression (already) at that RT. Leech (1971:62, cited from Stefanescu I., English Morphology) remarks that “the meaning of the verbal construction here is perhaps the most difficult of all future meanings to characterize. It can be roughly summed up in the phrase future-as-a –matter-of-course, and indicates that a predicted event will happen independently of the will or intention of anyone concerned.” .Leech further remarks that “it is tempting to speculate that this usage has grown up through the need to have a way of referring to the future uncontaminated by factors of volition, plan, and intention which enter into the future meanings of WILL/SHALL + infinitive, The Present Progressive and “Be Going To + INFINITIVE.”

Leech remarks endorse the analysis: it is the semantic reading of this structure which explains its being preferred in contexts in which a prediction about an event is made with such a great certainty that the event is presented as unfolding at a specified future RT. Leech (1971:63) contrasts the following pairs of sentences:

(a)   “I’ll drive into London next week.” (I’ve made up my mind)

(b)   “I’ll be driving into London next week.” (as a matter of fact)

(c)    “Will you put on another play soon?” (Please!)

(d)   “Will you be putting on another play soon?” (Is this going to happen?)

“In principle, it is possible to use (a) in the neutral predictive sense of “I shall die one day”, but in practice, it is difficult to avoid suggesting at the same time that one wants and intends to drive to London. The possibility of volitional coloring is avoided in sentence (b), which is understood simply as a statement that “such-and-such” is going to happen. The same thing applies to the second pair. As a question, sentence (c) implicates the intentions of the listener, and therefore comes to sound almost like a cajoling imperative; but sentence (d) simply asks whether a future production will come to pass.” (Leech, ibid:63)

For instance, sentence (b) above can be preceded by the offer “Can I give you a lift?”, for it would forestall any awkward feeling of indebtedness on the listener’s part: “I shall be making the journey anyway, so don’t feel you would be causing me trouble.”

In negative sentences Future Simple expresses intention not to do a certain thing, absence of volition, while the Future Continuous merely states that a certain action will not take place:

“Ann says she won’t come if Tom is driving.”

“Well, tell her Tom won’t be driving, he’s had his license suspended.”

The Future Continuous can express supposition, strong probability referring to the present, virtual certainty in the present:

“You’ll be wondering why I acted like that.”

“She’ll be sleeping now.”

“He’ll be asking himself what has happened.”

c)      The Future Perfect Simple

Form:

It consists of the future tense of the auxiliary HAVE plus the past participle of the main verb:

“I shall/ will have worked.”

Uses and values:

a)     The Future Perfect expresses a future action which will take place or will be completed before a certain future moment. This use can be represented on the temporal axis as follows:

Now FUTURE A certain future action/moment

PERFECT

───────×───────────×────────────────×─────────────

Reference point

The verb in the Future Perfect is used with a reference point (a time marker) to indicate the future moment/ action before which this future action is seen as completed. The future moment from which the action is viewed as completed may be indicated by means of:

an adverbial phrase introduced by the prepositions BY, BEFORE, IN:

“By next Sunday, he will have moved into the new house.”

“They will have emigrated to Canada by Christmas.”

“I hope they will have repaired the road by next Sunday.”

“In two years time’, he will have taken his degree.”

a subordinate clause of time introduced by the conjunctions BEFORE, WHEN, BY THE TIME. (the verb is in the present tense)

“I hope they will have repaired the road by next Sunday.”

“I hope they will have repaired the road by the time we come back.”

“By the time we get there, the film will have started.”

“I will already have finished my lessons when they arrived.”

b)     Continuative use:

With state verbs (verbs which con not be used in the continuous form) the Future Perfect Simple expresses an action began before a given future moment and still going on at that future moment. This can be represented on the temporal axis as:

now future perfect a given future moment

Reference point

────────×─────────×────────────────×──────────────

│──────────────→

Usually, two time markers occur with the Future Prefect Simple having a continuative use:

a time marker which expresses the reference point: a certain/ given future moment

a time marker introduced by FOR to indicate the length of time (the duration)

“By the end of the year I shall have been here for two months.”

“On October 1^st I shall have been working on this project for four months.”

“Next February I shall have been celebrating my birthday.”

c) The Future perfect with other temporal values:

The Future Perfect can be used to express supposition, strong probability, an assumption on the past of the speaker about an action performed at a previous moment (in the past). The verb is used in the 2^nd and 3^rd person:

“No doubt you will have heard of this writer. (= I assume, suppose you have heard of this writer)”

“They will have left by now. (=I think they have already left)”

“They will have got home by now. (=They have surely got home by now)”

With all perfect tenses (Present Perfect, Past perfect, Future Perfect) the adverb ALREADY emphasizes that the action expressed by the verb is completed immediately before another reference point:

“I have already finished my lessons.” (implied reference point-NOW)

“I had already finished my lessons when they arrived.” (expressed reference point :a past action “arrived”)

“I will already have finished my lessons when they arrived.” (expressed reference point: a future action “arrive”)

The Future Perfect becomes the present Perfect in temporal clauses:

“We won’t go away until you have promised you’ll accept the invitation.”

“When the first buds have come out, spring will not be very far away.”

d) The Future Perfect Continuous

Form:

It consists of the Future Perfect of the auxiliary BE plus the present participle of the main verb:

“I shall/will have been working.”

Uses and values:

It expresses an action begun before a given future moment and still going on at that future moment. It has the same representation on the temporal axis as Future Perfect Simple.

now future perfect continuous a given future moment

Reference point

─────×─────────×──────────────────×───────────────

│────────────────→

Two time markers are usually required with Future Perfect Continuous:

a time marker introduced by the preposition FOR to indicate the length of the time (duration) of the activity.

a time marker which expresses the reference point (a given future moment).

This given future moment can be expressed by:

● an adverbial phrase usually introduced by NEXT, BY:

“By his sixtieth birthday he will have been teaching for 35 years.”

“By the end of the month he will have been living here for two years.”

“By six o’clock he will have been working for eight hours.”

● a subordinate clause of time (with the verb in the present tense):

“When the bell rings, we will have been writing for 50 minutes.”

“When Mr. Brown retires, he will have been working in the same office for 45 years.”

Present Tense Continuous and Future Continuous compared

“I am meeting Tom tomorrow.”

AND

“I’ll be meeting Tom tomorrow.”

In the first example the speaker and/or Tom have /has deliberately arranged to meet (=definite arrangement in the near future), while in the second it is assumed that the two will meet in the ordinary course of events.

Similarly:

“Mary is visiting her parents next week.”

AND

“Mary will be visiting her parents next week.”

The distinction may not always be important and either form can be used:

“He is taking his exam next week.”

OR

“He will be taking his exam next week.”

Future Continuous and Future Indefinite compared

The Future Continuous expresses a casual action in the future, one that will happen either as a matter of routine or for reasons unconnected with the main issue. The Future Indefinite expresses invitation, a deliberate future action in accordance with the speaker’s wishes:

“I’ll see the Dean and explain to him why I would like to set up that project.” (=seeing the Dean is a deliberate action on the part of the speaker)

WHILE

“I’ll be seeing the Dean and I’ll explain to him why I would like to set up that project.” (=no intention implied; the speaker is likely to see the Dean in the normal course of events or accidentally and then will tell him about the project).

The use of one or the other of the various means of expressing futurity depends on what message the speaker wants to convey to the interlocutor. The speaker can choose to say, depending on the context and what he/she has in mind:

“John will sell his old car.” (I assume; think so)

“John is going to sell his old car.” (it is his intention)

“John is selling his old car.” (he has already found a buyer)

e)    Other means of expressing futurity

● Present Simple

The Simple present tense with future time reference occurs both in (i) simple sentences with an explicit future time adverbial or an unanchored adverbial and in (ii) subordinate adverbial clauses of time (in which the temporal adverbial clause has the role of a relational adverb) and of condition.

Used in simple sentences:

“Tomorrow is Saturday.”

“The train leaves at 7:30 this evening.”

“We start for Istanbul tonight.”

“Frank comes tomorrow. I had a letter this morning.”

“Tonight we meet again.”

“Are you disengaged this evening?”

“Do you see the bishop this morning?

“I am 40 next week.”

“She is eighteen in December.”

All these sentences refer to a particular event that is to take place at a particular moment or interval of time. The crucial fact about these sentences from the point of view of their temporal specification is that they pick out a particular moment or time interval for RT (reference time) and specify it by means of an explicit future time adverbial, e.g.: “tomorrow, tonight, next--, in a--, the day after, etc” or an unanchored adverbial, “on Tuesday, in December.” On the other hand, there is no special specification about ET (event time) which is assumed to be simultaneous with RT. Therefore, the semantic analysis of the temporal specification of one of the sentences “Tomorrow is Saturday.” Would be something like this:

ST – now

RT- tomorrow, future RT=> ST

ET- unspecified, ET=RT

Pragmatically, such sentences are used only in those contexts in which the content of an anticipated event is considered an assured fact; the anticipated event is attributed the same degree of certainty that we normally accord to present (or past) events. “In using the present tense in speaking of future events one disregards, as it were, the uncertainty always connected with prophesizing, and speaks of something, not indeed as really taking place now, but simply as certain.” (Jespersen, 1954:21)

In the same vein, Leech (1971:60, cited from Stefanescu I., English Morphology) comments that “since most future happenings are in principle subject to doubt, the Simple Present tense which describes a future event by a categorical statement of fact, is in general a special or “marked” form of reference which overrides the normal feeling that the future is less certain tan the present or the past. A statement like: “Next week John fails the exam.” is unthinkable except as an ironical comment, supposing that John’s failure is as sure as the fact that Wednesday will succeed Tuesday.”

The Simple Present tense with future time reference is therefore used in contexts about plans or arrangements regarded as unalterable; consider the sentence:

“He goes tomorrow to Vienna.”

“Tomorrow I set off for London.”

“I start for Italy on Monday next.”

“We leave early tomorrow morning.”

“I meet you at dinner on Sunday.”

All these sentences are used in contexts in which the idea of changing the plan is out of the question; moreover, with the simple present, “the arrangement is often felt to be an impersonal or collective one-made, for example by a committee, a court of law, or un-named authority.” (Leech: 61). This use of the simple Present tense might occur also in a narrative sequence or in a context where some definite point of time in the future is assumed. An example of such a narrative sequence is given by Leech:

“Right! We meet at Victoria at nine o’clock, catch the fast train to Dover, have lunch at the Castle Restaurant, then walk across the Cliff’s to Deal.”

The tone of the statement suggests an irrevocable decision to follow the stated programme: it is as if the speaker enacts in advance the events as they will take place. There is an inevitable course of action if the trip is to take place at all.

A related use of the Simple present is the melodramatic expression of inexorable determination:

“One more step, and I shoot you!!”

-a style of threat beloved by writers of popular crime and adventure stories.

In colloquial English the same use of the Simple present tense is pretty common in complement clauses of the verb HOPE:

“I hope she plays one of Mozart’s sonnets.”

-in this sentence the content of the hope is treated as an instantiated fact- it constitutes, therefore, a strong assertion about a mental attitude.

We find the Simple Present tense used in subordinate adverbial clauses of time which display the function of a relational adverbial with respect to the main clause and in subordinate adverbial clauses of condition. These subordinate clauses function as complex adverbials specifying, mainly, the reference time (RT) of the matrix.

Consider the examples:

“Shall I ever see him again after I leave England?”

“We’ll sigh it the day after you come back.”

“Lady Gage has made me promise to bring him after we are married.”

“What shall we do directly after I come out?”

It is obvious in all these examples of adverbial clauses introduced by the conjunction AFTER that the subordinate clause specifies the RT of the matrix. These adverbial clauses may be also introduced by AS SOON AS, UNTIL, WHEN, AS:

“I shall let you know as soon as I hear from him.”

“Wait until the rain stops.”

“When spring comes, the swallows will return.”

“John will announce the guests as they arrive.”

It is obvious that all these subordinate adverbial clauses function as complex adverbials that specify the RT of the matrix clause. In fact, the matrix clause contains no other specification. In all the above examples the content of the adverbial clause is assumed to exist as a fact; its very existence in time creates an axis of orientation for other events that are predicted to take place.

The same argument can be built for the use of the Simple Present tense in subordinate adverbial clauses of condition. Consider the following examples:

“Will you come for a walk in the afternoon, if it does not rain?”

“Then the wedding, if it comes off, will be in the morning of the day Clyn comes home.”

“When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”

It is a known fact that a condition can be actualized at a time posterior to the moment of speaking; the matrix clause is predicted to take place if the stated condition is fulfilled. It can be argued that this is not just a requirement of the syntactic pattern, but has its basis in a contrast of meaning. In the dependent clauses above, the happening referred to is not a prediction, but a fact is taken as given. A conditional sentence has the structure:

“If X is a fact, then I predict Y.”

Hence, in the IF clause it is appropriate to use the present time, with the assumption of factual certainty.

The Simple Past Tense referring to Future Time

In English, the combination of past morpheme on the verb and future time adverbial does not specify an RT. This use of the Simple Tense is treated as a “historical present tense”, and it is a fictional license and does not occur in everyday speech : it’s a use confined to literary style, more specifically to science fiction.

“In the year A.D 2201, the interplanetary transit vehicle Zero VII made a routine journey to the moon with thirty people on board.”

We are invited, by this convention, to look at future events as if from advantage point even further in the future: if the events, in the year 2201, are recounted in the past tense, then we must be, at the time of writing/reading, at a time after 2201, at least 2202. In other words, the Simple Past tense in science fiction is employed in virtue of the existent, known convention about recounting events; events that took place in the past (whether they are actual, historical events or fictional events) are narrated in the Simple Past tense form.

Leech (1971:10, cited from Palmer, F., Meaning and the English verb) remarks :” There has grown up a convention of using the Past for narrative…the employment of this convention in science fiction is a make-believe technique: future events are recounted as if they are recollected, not anticipated, thus projecting the reader even further in time than the time specified in the narrative (the year 2201 in the example). This is a stylistic device that exploits the convention about narrative, namely that any narrative normally presupposes a retrospective view.

●Present Continuous (Progressive)

The Present Continuous with future time reference is used in a much wider range of situations than the Present Simple. The Present Continuous is the most usual way to express a person’s immediate plans, intentions or definite arrangements in the near future. Any modal implication about a plan, or program or arrangement is fatally bound to the future. As adverbial of time is always used to indicate the time of the action, as otherwise there might be confusion between present and future meanings:

“I’m starting work tomorrow.”

-the sentence is in the present tense (progressive) and contains a future time adverbial –“tomorrow”- time reference –future.

Consider these two examples:

“John is rising at 5 o’clock tomorrow.”

*”The sun is rising at 5 o’clock tomorrow.”

Leech (1971:59, cited from Stefanescu I., English Morphology) comments in the following way: “The latter sentence is absurd because it suggests that the rising of the sun could be deliberately planned, instead of being determined by natural law.” In short, one of the contexts in which such a form can be used is one in which a certain event is to take place due to conscious human agency that wills the event:

“Denis is buying me a new coat for my birthday.”

“We’re visiting aunt Rose tomorrow.”

“I’m having a little birthday party, you know, tomorrow.”

It is evident that human volition is engaged in setting up plans, programs or in securing kinds of arrangements; therefore, one of the contexts in which the progressive form is favored, is in which plans, arrangements are talked about:

“She’s getting married this spring.”

“We’re having fish for dinner.”

As Leech remarks, “In each sentence there is the implication of an arrangement already made: the marriage has been fixed, the menu has been chosen.” Leech also indicates that the contextual implication of imminence can often accompany a fixed arrangement; therefore, the simple present progressive form can be favored in contexts in which the arrangement or the plan is considered as imminent:

“The Smiths are leaving tomorrow.”

“I’m starting work tomorrow.”

Palmer (1978:66, cited from Stefanescu I., English Morphology) contrasts the use of the Simple Present tense with the Present progressive form when they are used in future time sentences:

“I’m starting work tomorrow.”

“I start work tomorrow.”

-the first example suggests that the speaker now expects or intends to start work-he may perhaps, have been ill.

-the second indicates that tomorrow is the time fixed for him to start, by his firm or by his doctor.

Leech makes a similar commentary about these two forms:

“We are starting for Istanbul tonight.” (announces a present plan which may, conceivably, be altered later)

“We start for Istanbul tonight.” (changing the plan is out of question)

A further difference between the two constructions is that the arrangement conveyed by the present progressive is generally (but not necessarily) assumed to have been made by the subject of the sentence:

“I am starting for Istanbul tonight.” almost always means “I have arranged to start tonight.”

But with the Simple Present, the arrangement is often left to be an impersonal or collective one-made, for example by a committee, a court of law, etc.

A brief remark is in order about a construction like:”I’m getting a present tomorrow.”-the construction as such is ambiguous between “an active, agentive meaning “acquire”, or the passive, inert meaning “receive””. The passive meaning is possible because in this case the plan is understood to have been made and carried out by someone else than the subject of the sentence; the meaning is approximately:

“Someone has arranged to give me a present tomorrow.” (Leech, 1971:53)

In sum, we can say that the Present Progressive form contains as part of the implied meaning a modal nuance that can be spelled out as “a plan, arrangement, program deliberately planned by conscious human agency.”

●BE GOING TO

“Be Going To” is a frozen structure that cannot be analyzed into two separate verb forms: it must be listed as such in the lexicon. As Jespersen (1931:217) remarks, the structure “is going to” derives from the progressive form of the verb “to go”, “going” loses its meaning as a verb of movement and becomes an empty grammatical word; French “Je vais faire” and similar expressions in other Romance languages. The weakening of the original meaning is particularly clear when it becomes possible to say:

“I am going to go.”

“I am going to come.”

The use began towards the end of the 15^th century, but is not yet frequent about 1600.

Today this structure represents a colloquial form. The form “be going to” is found not only in combinations with the present tense, but also with the past tense, the perfect ( I’ve been going to have finished the job by the time they arrive.”) and progressive aspectual form (“They’re going to be watching football next Sunday afternoon.”). As Leech remarks, the last two complex constructions are on the whole very rare.

What are the senses of this idiomatic structure?

As Leech (1971:54) points out, there is one general meaning that this structure has: he defines it as “future fulfillment of the present”. Two extensions of this general meaning are most frequent with this expression:   

a)     the sense of “future fulfillment of the present” which is found chiefly with human subjects that, by conscious exercise of the will, intend to bring an event or a state:

“What are you going to do today?”

“I am going to stay at home and read.”

“Next year we are going to have no holiday.”

“They are going to get married in a registry office.”

Leech points out that, although the closest paraphrase to “I am going to leave tomorrow.” there is a slight difference of meaning between the two:

“I intend to leave tomorrow.” -does not tell us whether the departure will take place or not; but “be going to” brings with it a strong expectation (if not quite a prediction) that the intention will be carried out.

“I am going to punish them.” -is stronger than

“I intend to punish them.” - it implies the speaker’s confidence in his power to put the threat into effect . (Leech, 1971: 155)

b)     the second extension of the general sense of “be going to” can be formulated as “future fulfillment of present cause” ; the sense is common with both agentive action verbs as well as with verbs describing states; it thus covers a wider range of contexts than the intentional meaning of “be going to”.

“She’s going to have another baby.”

(She is already pregnant.)

“I think I’m going to faint.”

(I already feel ill.)

“There is going to be a storm in a minute.”

(I can see the black clouds gathering.)

“In each of these examples there is the feeling that factors giving rise to the future happening are already present; or (to be meticulous) it is as if “the train of events leading to the future happening is already under way.” The first sentence may be contrasted with

“She will have another baby”

which is the pronouncement of a soothsayer, rather than a piece of news”. (Leech, 1971:160)

From this conventionally implied sense of impending events that bring forth another event, we can easily understand why “be going to” is often used in reference to the immediate future.

“Watch it! The pile of boxes is going to fall.”

(I can see it already tottering)

“Look! He’s going to score a goal.”

(I can see him moving up to the goal mouth.)

This characteristic sense of “be going to” has a “present orientation” or “current orientation” (Palmer, 1979:121) ; there are features in the present that will determine events.

“At the moment they’re decorating their house and they are going to alter odd parts of it.”

-in this example there is a current activity leading to a future event.

Often, the “current orientation” sense is to be conceived as a train of events already in motion:

“Will my honorable friend accept that many people in the House think that Concorde is going to be a gigantic financial disaster?”

“I’m buying an awful lot of books here. It’s going to cost me a fortune to get them home.”

Vagueness of “be going to”

Be Going To is somewhat difficult to classify. The meaning of this form is often imprecise. In precisely written English, “be going to” may need to be replaced by words that make the writer’s meaning clearer:

- am going to

“I - intend to emigrate.”

- have planned to

- is going to

“The Municipality - proposes to widen this road.”

- has agreed to

“Intend, have planned, propose and have agreed” could all be replaced by the vague “be going”, but obviously they do not all mean the same thing.

BE GOING TO versus WILL

The difference between WILL and GOING TO is so subtle that it cannot be easily conveyed through rules or isolated examples. Moreover, often the two forms are interchangeable.

“I think it will rain.”

“I think it’s going to rain.”

or the meaning overlaps to such an extent that there is no risk of the learner being misunderstood.

● GOING TO is a kind of present tense- you use it when you want to talk about a future situation that is already connected to the present, because there is present evidence, or because a plan is already in motion:

“I think it’s going to rain’ - I just felt a drop.

“They’re going to retire to the country.” -they’ve already bought a little cottage.

In other cases, where there is no implicit or explicit connection to the present, it is used WILL:

“The concert will be over by midnight.”

“I’ll light the barbecue.”

When you’re making predictions, you can use WILL or BE GOING TO more or less interchangeably:

“I think it’s going to rain.”

“I think it will rain.”

When you’re expressing an intention or decision, use WILL if you’re making the decision as you speak; use GOING TO if you have already made the decision:

“Can you give me a hand?”

“Ok, I’ll light the barbecue.”

“Can you give me a hand?”

“No, sorry. I’m going to bath the baby.”

But there is a problem here with this “rule”:

a)     it doesn’t always work in real life (think of what you say in a restaurant, as you sit down with your friends, and what do you say to the waiter when you order):

“What are you going to have?”

“Hmmm….I think I’m going to have fish.”

“Are you ready to order?”

“Yes, I’ll have fish.”

b)     it lacks “psychological” validity:

to talk about the future use WILL

WILL is much common than GOING TO in all meanings (prediction and intention) and all registers (conversation and writing). In fact, WILL is the most common modal verb in English. Future meaning is more often expressed by WILL than by other form. So, when in doubt, use WILL

use WILL in writing and GOING TO in speaking. GOING TO is most common in conversation (although never as common as WILL), and more common in American than British conversation. It is relatively infrequent in written English.

Palmer (1979: 126, cited from Stefanescu I., English Morphology) shows that the choice of BE GOING TO makes the event more immediate or more certain.

In the following examples:

■ “But I said “Don’t have any doubt about this, dear friends, that if you are going ahead with doing that, you are going to be dealing with me!””

- WILL is not absolutely essential in the main clause of a conditional; BE GOING TO is chosen because it is assumed that the events will, in fact, take place- the future is “extra-real”.

■ “I get the impression that some of them seem to think that all they need to do is to say a social compact three times a day before meals and keep their fingers crossed and everything is going to be right.”

- the suggestion is that they believe that they are doing what is right and everything will therefore turn out right, in spite of the fact that this is in the form of an implicit condition.

If we contrast a sentence in the BE GOING TO form and one in the Present Progressive we can notice that there is a difference in interpretation:

“I am going to take Mary out for dinner this evening.”

“I’m taking Mary out for dinner this evening.”

“An intention is part of one’s present state of mind, while an arrangement is something already predetermined in the past, regardless of how the speaker feels. Hence the second sentence could conceivably be uttered with some reluctance by someone who now regrets the arrangement- and it could be very readily be used as an excuse:

“I’m sorry, I’d like to have a game of billiards with you, but I’m taking Mary out for dinner.””    (Leech, 1971: 58, cited from Stefanescu I., English Morphology)

● BE TO + INFINITIVE

The construction expresses the following meanings:

■ an arrangement which has been planned for the future, a future action which has already been arranged, decided upon, or is bound to happen:

“The meeting is to begin at 8 o’clock.”

“The President is to visit Japan next year.”

“They are to be married in June.”

“I am to move house soon.”

BE TO +Infinitive is often used in newspapers and radio to report an official plan or decision:

“The Prime Minister is to speak on television tonight.”

-this example would be reduced, in headlines, to:

“Prime Minister to speak on TV tonight.”

■ an order, instruction, command, usually an indirect one: the speaker merely passes on orders issued by someone else. It is a construction expressing the will of someone other than the speaker:

“You are to be back by 10 o’clock.”

“You are to stay in bed for two days.”

-the same construction serves to report prohibitions:

“You are not to stay here. Do you understand?”

BE TO + Passive Infinitive is common in notices and instructions:

“This gate is not to be opened today.”

According to the context, this could mean either

plans to have an opening ceremony have been canceled or postponed, or

people are forbidden to open it.

“The poor old lady is not to be comforted.”

-it means that she is inconsolable.

As BE TO is one of the expressions of futurity that are used only to refer to actions or states subject to human control, we could delete “going” in the example:

“:I am going to play tennis.”

if we mean that those are my plans or instructions, but we could not delete “going” in:

“ I am going to faint.”

“He is going to be fat.”

“There is going to be a storm.”

BE TO can freely be used in a conditional clause if the emphasis is on the present plan:

“If the Prime Minister is to speak….I suppose that means there is another crisis.”

● BE ABOUT TO + INFINITIVE

This construction expresses an immediate future action whose fulfillment is imminent. It is thus an equivalent to the “Be Going To” form and Present Continuous form. This construction is used with animate and inanimate subjects. Additional time markers are usually not required since the meaning of the construction itself is “soon” or “right away”.

“Hurry up! The train is (just) about to leave.”

“I feel (that) something terrible is about to happen.”

“Be on the point of –ing” could replace “Be about to” with an animate subject as in the following example:

“I can’t see you now. I’m just on the point of leaving.”

“She is on the point of getting married.” (she is very likely to get married very soon)

-telephone conversation:

“Can you come over for dinner?”

“I’m sorry, we can’t. We are on the point of leaving/ we are leaving for London.” ( the action is imminent, we have the tickets)

f)      Future seen from a Past perspective / Future in the past

Future in the past means a future action seen from a viewpoint in the past. There are several ways (verb forms) in English for describing future actions viewed from a point further in the past:

WOULD + Infinitive

WAS/ WERE TO + Infinitive

WAS/ WERE GOING TO + Infinitive

WAS/ WERE ABOUT TO + Infinitive

PAST TENSE CONTINUOUS

● Would + Infinitive and was/ were to +Infinitive are the only examples of constructions which refer to the fulfilled future in the past. But in this sense, they are rather literary in style.

WOULD +INFINITIVE it is confined to literary narrative style:

“Two years later he would prove a sculptor of genius.”

“The time was not far off when he would regret his decision.”

●Was/ were to +Infinitive –the construction is used in the literary style to express:

- plan, arrangement

“The professor was to speak at a conference that evening.” (the professor was scheduled to speak)

- predestinated future (formal)

“They said good-bye, little knowing they were never to meet again.”

“He was later to regret his decision.”

WAS /WERE GOING TO +INFINITIVE, WAS/ WERE ABOUT TO +INFINITIVE usually carry the knowledge that the anticipated event didn’t take place.

●Was/ were going to +Infinitive expresses intention which may or may not have been fulfilled (something which was indented to happen did not happen):

“Why didn’t you phone me?”

“I was going to phone you but I didn’t have time.”

“He was going to invite me to the cinema.” (but he didn’t)

“The beauty contest was going to take place next Sunday.”

●Was /were about to + Infinitive (= “be on the point of)

“I was about to go to bed when there was a knock at the door.”

“The priceless tapestry was about to catch fire, but the fireman saved it.”

Past Tense Continuous expresses an action according to plan, arrangements. (an action already arranged and sure to happen)

“Dan was busy packing, for he was leaving the next day.”

“He was leaving for the country on Sunday.”

“I was meeting him in the same place next day.”

The verb is used with an adverb of future time: “the next day”, “on Sunday”, expresses the future moment at which the action was anticipated to take place.

The Past Continuous can refer to Future in the past especially in Indirect Speech (the past equivalent of the Present Continuous). All the future forms dealt with so far can be turned into a future in the past by substituting SHOULD or WOULD for SHALL or WILL (if the person remains unchanged):

“I shall see you tomorrow” => “I told him I should see hi the next day.”

“I shall be seeing her tomorrow.” => “He said he would be seeing her next day.”

“He asked the nurse if her father would soon be better.”

“At that time I thought I would never see them again.”

The Sequence of Tenses

A sentence can contain several structures, themselves containing a subject and a predicate that are referred to as:

- a main clause / several main clauses

- a subordinate clause / several subordinate clauses.

● If in the main clause there is a present, present perfect or future, the tense in the subordinate clause depends exclusively on logic and can assume any of the forms of the Indicative mood.

● If in the main clause there is a past tense, and more rarely a past perfect tense, the tense in the subordinate clause must assume a past form.

The generic term for all the past equivalents of the various means of expressing futurity is FUTURE-IN –THE-PAST. This future in the past is realized by all the past equivalent of the various means of expressing futurity, as follows:

Future form Future in the past

Present tense indefinite               past tense indefinite

Present tense continuous                  past tense continuous

Will+ infinitive                                  would +infinitive

Be going to form past equivalent of “be going to”

Future tense indefinite               (an apparent) conditional tense

Future tense continuous               (an apparent) cond. present cont.

Future perfect indefinite            (an apparent) perfect conditional

Future perfect continuous            (an apparent) perfect cond. continuous