How to talk about the future in English with ‘will’ vs. ‘going to’?

There are many ways to talk about the future in English. The two most common ways, though, are:

• using the auxiliary will(sometimes called the “simple future”) → to make a plan at the moment you are speaking

  We will come for dinner.

• using the expression going to → for a plan that existed before you spoke

  We are going to come for dinner.

In this post, we’ll look more closely at these two ways to express the future, and we’ll also talk about how to use will and going to to form other future tenses, like the future continuous, future perfect, and future perfect continuous.

Let’s look into my crystal ball 🔮 and find out what the future holds for you as you learn the difference between these two ways to talk about the future!

In the future tense with will, follow this rule:

Let’s first look more closely at how to form the future with will in different kinds of sentences, then we’ll come back to exactly when to use this form of the future.

Here’s how to form the future with going to in English:

Notice that the verb be changes according to the subject of the sentence. As a reminder:

• am → I

• are → you, we, they, a plural noun

• is → he, she, it, a singular noun

As usual, these forms of the word be can be shortened:

• am → 'm: I’m going to…

• are → 're: they're going to…

• is → 's: she's going to…

Let’s start by talking about how to talk about the future with going to, and then we’ll talk about when to use this form of the future tense.

As we described above, you can use will and going to before other auxiliary verbs to form several different “future tenses”: the future continuous, the future perfect, and the future perfect continuous.

Here is how and when to use them:

• The future continuous

  will / be going

  

  (to) be

  

  present participle

  (root + -ing)

  To describe an event in the future that will be in progress for some time, usually during another particular future event or moment:

  By the time we set up the camera, the lion will be eating the gazelle.
  By the time we set up the camera, the lion is going to be eating the gazelle.

  At the future moment when the camera is set up, the lion will be in the middle of eating the gazelle.

• The future perfect

  will / be going

  

  (to) have

  

  past participle

  (root + -ed / irregular)

  To describe an event that will be finished before the time we reach another another future event or moment:

  By the time we set up the camera, the lion will have eaten the gazelle.
  By the time we set up the camera, the lion is going to have eaten the gazelle.

  At the future moment when the camera is set up, the lion will be finished eating the gazelle.

• The future perfect continuous

  will / be going

  

  (to) have been

  

  past participle

  (root + -ed / irregular)

  To describe an event that will already be started before the time we reach another particular future event or moment but will not be finished yet.

  By the time we set up the camera, the lion will have been eating the gazelle for ten minutes already.
  By the time we set up the camera, the lion is going to have been eating the gazelle for ten minutes already.

  At the future moment when the camera is set up, the lion will already be eating the gazelle, but will not be finished eating it.

Check out our post on the perfect continuous tenses in English to better understand what makes the future perfect continuous different from the other two!

Here’s what you should remember from this post:

• The future with will → will + root

• The future with going to → am/are/is + going to + root

• Use will to talk about the future when you don’t have previous plans and you are deciding as you speak.

• Use going to to talk about the future when you already have a plan.

• Both will and going to can come before other auxiliary verbs to create the future continuous, future perfect, and future perfect continuous.

Do you want to know what your future will be? Why not check out our activities to practice the English future tense with will and going to! You might just find out!