The Future in English: Will, Going to and Present Continuous, with Examples and Exercises

Learn when to use will, going to and the present continuous to talk about the future in English, with common mistakes and exercises.

Updated on 12/09/26

«I’m meeting Sarah tomorrow.» How would you say that in English? I will meet Sarah tomorrow? I’m going to meet Sarah tomorrow? I’m meeting Sarah tomorrow? All three are grammatically correct, but only one sounds natural, and it is not the one most of my students pick.

That is the real problem with the future in English: it is not hard to form, because will never changes and going to takes five minutes to learn. The hard part is choosing. And the reason is that many languages, Spanish among them, have a single future that covers almost everything, whereas English shares the work out between three structures depending on when the decision was made.

In this guide you will see all three forms, when a native speaker uses each one, the difference between a plan and something already arranged (which is where the present continuous comes in, and where almost nobody stops to explain), the mistakes I correct every week, and four exercises to practise. Let’s get started!

The three ways of talking about the future in English

Before going into detail, hold on to this idea, because it is what makes sense of everything else: what changes is not when it happens, but when you decided it.

Form	When was it decided?	🇬🇧 Example
will	Right now, as you speak. Or nothing has been decided: it is an opinion.	I’ll help you with that.
be going to	Before this conversation: it is an intention, a plan of yours.	I’m going to study medicine.
present continuous	Before, and it is already arranged: there is a time, a place or someone else involved.	I’m meeting Sarah at six.

Go back to the question at the top. If you have arranged to see Sarah, you have both talked about it and there is a time, the natural choice is I’m meeting Sarah tomorrow. Will would suggest you have just decided this second, and going to would suggest it is an intention of yours that Sarah may not even know about.

WILL: the form and its uses

How to form it

The great thing about will is that it never changes: it is the same for every subject and is always followed by the infinitive without to.

Form	🇬🇧 Structure	Example
Affirmative	subject + will + verb	She will call you. / She’ll call you.
Negative	subject + will not (won’t) + verb	They won’t come.
Interrogative	Will + subject + verb	Will you help me?

Watch two details: the contraction is ‘ll (I’ll, you’ll, he’ll) and the negative is won’t, not willn’t. And never put to after it: it is I will go, not I will to go.

Spontaneous decisions

This is the flagship use. When you decide something at the moment of speaking, you use will:

• That’s the phone. I‘ll get it!
• I’m cold. I think I‘ll close the window.
• Oh, we’ve run out of milk. I‘ll buy some on my way home.

Predictions based on your opinion

When you give your opinion about the future, with no evidence in front of you, you use will. It usually comes with I think, I’m sure, probably or maybe:

• I think Spain will win the match.
• She‘ll probably be late, she always is.

Promises, offers and requests

• I won’t tell anyone, I promise. (promise)
• That bag looks heavy. I‘ll carry it for you. (offer)
• Will you pass me the salt, please? (request)

Future facts that depend on nobody

I‘ll be 40 next year. / Christmas will be on a Tuesday this year. There is no plan and no decision here: it is simply going to happen.

Will in the first conditional

The first conditional is built with if + present and will in the other half: If it rains, we‘ll stay at home. Note that you do not put will after if. It is explained in full in the post on conditional sentences.

BE GOING TO: the form and its uses

How to form it

Here something does change, because it carries the verb to be in front, and that one is conjugated: am / is / are + going to + verb.

Form	🇬🇧 Structure	Example
Affirmative	subject + am/is/are going to + verb	I’m going to travel to Japan.
Negative	subject + am/is/are not going to + verb	He isn’t going to come.
Interrogative	Am/Is/Are + subject + going to + verb	Are you going to tell her?

The number one mistake here is dropping the verb to be: I going to travel does not exist. It has to be I‘m going to travel.

Plans and intentions decided beforehand

If you decided it before this conversation, it is going to:

• I‘m going to start going to the gym in September.
• We‘re going to paint the kitchen this weekend.
• She‘s going to look for a new job.

Predictions with the evidence in front of you

When the prediction is based not on your opinion but on something you can see right now, you use going to:

• Look at those clouds! It‘s going to rain.
• He’s driving really fast. He‘s going to have an accident.
• The bus is full. We‘re not going to get on.

This is the fine distinction with will: I think it will rain is what you believe; It’s going to rain is what the clouds above you are saying.

The present continuous for the future: plans that are already fixed

And now we reach the part almost no guide explains properly, even though it is what native speakers use most in everyday life. The Present Continuous (am/is/are + verb in -ing) is not only for what is happening now: it is also used for the future when the plan is already arranged.

What does «arranged» mean? That there is something concrete confirming it: a time, a place, a booking, a ticket bought, or another person who is counting on it too.

• I‘m meeting Sarah at six. (We have both agreed on it.)
• We‘re flying to Rome on Friday. (The tickets are booked.)
• She‘s starting her new job on Monday. (It is already signed.)
• What are you doing this weekend? (The normal way to ask about someone’s plans.)

Notice one detail: there is nearly always a time expression (at six, on Friday, this weekend), and that is what stops it being confused with the present. If you need to revise those, they are in the post on prepositions of time.

Going to or present continuous: the real difference

Both talk about plans, so very often either will do. The difference is how far along the plan is:

🇬🇧 Sentence	What it suggests
I’m going to visit my parents.	I intend to. There is no date or anything concrete yet.
I’m visiting my parents on Sunday.	It is settled: there is a day and they are expecting me.

A practical rule I give in class: if you have already told someone else, or something is booked or bought, go for the present continuous. If it is still only in your head, going to.

One warning: this works with action and diary verbs (meet, fly, start, have dinner, play), but not with state verbs. You would not say I’m being tired tomorrow; there you need I’ll be tired. To firm up when the continuous works and when it does not, I cover it in the post on the Present Simple versus the Present Continuous.

Will, going to or present continuous: how to choose in two seconds

When in doubt, ask yourself these questions in this order:

1. Have I just decided it, as I speak? → will.
2. Is there a time, a place, a booking or someone who already knows? → present continuous.
3. Is it a plan of mine, still unconfirmed? → going to.
4. Is it an opinion about the future? → will. And if the evidence is in front of you? → going to.

Look at it through a single situation, going to the cinema:

• I think I‘ll go to the cinema tonight. (I am deciding now.)
• I‘m going to go to the cinema tonight. (I had it in mind already.)
• I‘m going to the cinema tonight. (I already have the ticket.)

And here is a style tip while we are at it: instead of I’m going to go, which sounds repetitive, native speakers almost always say I’m going. The same with come: I’m coming beats I’m going to come.

When both work

Let’s be clear about this, because a lot of people worry more than they need to: in plenty of sentences will and going to are interchangeable and nobody will correct you. Especially in general predictions:

• The exam will be difficult. / The exam is going to be difficult.
• You‘ll love this film. / You‘re going to love this film.

Where the difference really shows is in the three cases we have already seen: spontaneous decision (will), evidence in front of you (going to) and a plan already arranged (present continuous).

Common mistakes with the future

❌ Incorrect	✅ Correct	Why
I going to call her.	I’m going to call her.	The verb to be is missing.
I will to help you.	I will help you.	After will, the infinitive without to.
She willn’t come.	She won’t come.	The negative of will is won’t.
I’ll call you when I will arrive.	I’ll call you when I arrive.	After when, if, as soon as or until, use the present, not the future.
Look at that car! It will crash.	It’s going to crash.	There is evidence in front of you, so going to.
I will meet Sarah at six. (already arranged)	I’m meeting Sarah at six.	A plan fixed with someone else: present continuous.
Do you will come?	Will you come?	Will forms the question on its own, without do.
I’m gonna send it tomorrow. (in a formal email)	I’m going to send it tomorrow.	Gonna belongs to speech; never write it.

That fourth one, the when rule, is probably the most stubborn of the lot. Many languages use a future tense in that clause, so it slips in naturally. In English there is no debate: when I arrive, always.

Other ways of talking about the future

The three above cover almost everything, but there are two more you will meet very soon:

• Present simple for timetables. Trains, planes, cinemas and classes take the present simple even when they refer to the future, because they are fixed schedules that depend on nobody: The train leaves at 7.30. / The film starts at nine.
• Be about to for something imminent, about to happen in a minute: Hurry up, the film is about to start.

And one more you will hear but hardly ever need to produce: shall. These days it is only natural in questions with I or we, to offer or suggest: Shall I open the window?, Shall we go? Anywhere else it sounds dated.

The future in the Cambridge exams

This is one of the topics that pays off most in the exam, because it turns up in every paper:

• A2 Key and B1 Preliminary, Writing. The email task nearly always asks you to describe plans or suggest something. What is expected there is going to and the present continuous, not a string of will: I’m meeting my cousins on Saturday, and we’re going to visit the castle.
• B1 Preliminary, Speaking Part 3. It is literally a task where the two candidates plan something together, so the examiner is listening to how you negotiate plans: Shall we…?, We could…, I think that would be…
• B2 First, Use of English. The transformations often involve future structures and switching between them, as well as the rule about not putting will after when or if.

A practical tip from an exam preparer: in a B1 writing, alternating the three forms instead of repeating will ten times is exactly what lifts your mark under the Language criterion.

Summary table of the future in English

Form	Used for	🇬🇧 Examples
will	Spontaneous decisions, opinion-based predictions, promises, offers, future facts	I’ll get it. / I think she’ll win. / I’ll help you.
be going to	Prior plans and intentions, predictions with visible evidence	I’m going to study law. / It’s going to rain.
present continuous	Plans already arranged, with a time, a place or someone else	I’m meeting Sarah at six. / We’re flying on Friday.
present simple	Fixed timetables	The train leaves at 7.30.
be about to	Something imminent	The film is about to start.

Future forms exercises

You have the theory, so now it is time to practise. Here are four exercises, from the simplest to the most complete, each with its answers. Good luck!

And if you prefer a version in text that you can copy and paste, you have it down here 👇

Exercise 1: will or going to?

Choose the correct form: will or going to.

Exercise 2: complete the sentences

Complete the sentences with will, won’t or the correct form of going to, using the verbs in brackets.

Exercise 3: fixed plan or spontaneous decision?

Choose the correct form: present continuous for arrangements, or will for decisions made now.

Exercise 4: spot the mistake

Decide whether each sentence is Correct or Incorrect. If it is Incorrect, write the full correct sentence.

Frequently asked questions about the future in English

What is the difference between will and going to?

Will is used for what you decide on the spot and for predictions based on your opinion. Going to is for plans you already had and for predictions based on something you can see.

Is it true that will is for the distant future and going to for the near future?

No, and it is the most repeated myth of all. I’ll be there in five minutes is the immediate future with will, and I’m going to retire in thirty years is as distant as it gets with going to. What decides is not the distance but when the decision was made.

What does gonna mean?

It is the relaxed spoken form of going to: I’m gonna call her. It is understood everywhere and worth recognising when you listen, but you do not write it unless you are transcribing speech. In an exam, never.

When do you use shall?

In practice, only in questions with I or we to offer or suggest: Shall I help you?, Shall we start? As an ordinary future (I shall go) it sounds old-fashioned and formal.

Can I use the present continuous for any plan?

Only if it is genuinely arranged, with a time, a place, a booking or another person involved, and with action verbs. For an unconfirmed intention use going to, and for states use will: I’ll be at home, not I’m being at home.

Conclusion

The future in English stops being a puzzle the moment you stop asking «when is it happening?» and start asking «when did I decide it?». If you take three ideas away from this post, make them these: will for what you decide on the spot and for your opinions, going to for what you had already planned and for what you can see coming, and present continuous for what is already fixed with a time and a place.

Now it is your turn: do the exercises above and, if you get one wrong, go back to the summary table and look at when the decision was made in that sentence. The answer is always there.

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See you in the next post. Until then, don’t forget to keep smiling! 🙂