The most common way to talk about things and events in the future is to use the verb ‘will’. This is the Future Simple tense.
![Future Tense with 'Will'](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5GBwv2LH1Uo/maxresdefault.jpg)
![Future Tense with 'Will'](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5GBwv2LH1Uo/maxresdefault.jpg)
![Future Tense with 'Will'](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5GBwv2LH1Uo/maxresdefault.jpg)
How to form Future Simple
Statements
To form the Future Simple in positive sentences, we use:
will (’ll) + the verb (base form without ‘to’)
Singular | Plural |
I will (’ll) sing You’ll sing He/she/it’ll sing | We’ll sing You’ll sing They’ll sing |
- The train will arrive in an hour.
- I have a nice dress. I’ll go to the party tonight!
- Your brother will become famous soon.
Negative sentences
To make negative statements in Future Simple, we use:
will not (won’t) + the verb (base form without ‘to’)
Singular | Plural |
I will not (won’t) eat You won’t eat He/she/it won’t eat | We won’t eat You won’t eat They won’t eat |
- It’s too late; I won’t go through that park.
- That’s a very big pizza. We won’t finish it.
- Pete is in New York. He will not travel to Brazil with us.
Questions
To make questions in Future Simple, we rearrange the word order and use:
will + subject + the verb (base form without ‘to’)
Singular | Plural |
Will I be fine? Will you be fine? Will he/she/it be fine? | Will we be fine? Will you be fine? Will they be fine? |
- Will you be at work tomorrow?
- Will you help me with my homework?
Let’s summarize:
![Future Simple](https://slideplayer.com/slide/8630822/26/images/3/Future+Tense%3A+Will%EF%82%AE+Form.jpg)
![Future Simple](https://slideplayer.com/slide/8630822/26/images/3/Future+Tense%3A+Will%EF%82%AE+Form.jpg)
![Future Simple](https://slideplayer.com/slide/8630822/26/images/3/Future+Tense%3A+Will%EF%82%AE+Form.jpg)
When to use ‘will’ for future
We can use ‘will’ in English in several ways:
1) to describe a quick decision that you have made at the time of speaking:
- Oh, it’s raining! I’ll take my umbrella.
- What would you like? — I’ll have a tea, please.
- Patrick finally dared to ask: “Will you marry me, Cindy?”
- This cake looks very small. Will it be enough for all of us?
2) to make a prediction about what you think is going to happen – even if there is no firm evidence for that prediction:
- Mary’s preparing for her exam. I believe she will do very well tomorrow.
- Wait a few minutes. I think it will stop raining soon.
3) to offer to do something:
- You look tired. We’ll make you a cup of coffee.
- Is that the phone? I’ll answer it.
4) when making a promise:
- Don’t worry, mom, I’ll be careful.
- We will be there by eight, I promise.
5) to make a suggestion (with ‘shall‘):
- Shall we eat out tonight?
- Shall I help you with your homework?
6) to ask people to do something:
- Will you help me wash the car?
- Will you give me a ride?
Shall
We can use ‘shall’ instead of ‘will’ when asking for a decision, making polite offers or suggestions, or in more formal situations.
- When shall I meet you?
- What film shall we see?
We form questions with ‘shall’ like this:
(question word) + shall + subject + the verb (base form without ‘to’)
Note: We can start the question with ‘shall’ and no question word if it is not required. |
Singular | Plural |
Shall I visit? Shall you visit? Shall he/she/it visit? | Shall we visit? Shall you visit? Shall they visit? |
- Shall we have a cup of tea?
- That’s a good idea.
- You look tired. Shall I drive?
- We shall go there together.
Note: We can use ‘shall’ to talk about future actions and events, but it is only used with ‘I’ or ‘we’ and mostly in British English. |
Watch this video from Crown Academy of English to understand how to use ‘will’ to describe future actions and events correctly:
Read more about future tenses: