"Will" vs "going to" exercise
If you have read the article here, you know that "will" and "going to" form are not exactly the same. The difference between them is that "will" is used to express (spontaneous) decisions, while "going to" -- intentions.
(Still confused? There is some nice discussion below in the comments area.)Complete the conversations below using the verbs in the brackets. Good luck!
| 1 | What ___________ (do) in the summer holidays? | |
| 2 | I ___________ (pass) my driving test at last. | |
| 3 | Oh, that's cool. I think __________ (go) to Germany to visit my grandparents. | |
| 4 | How long _________ (stay) there? | |
| 5 |
Oh, I'm not sure. __________ (take, probably) at least a week. I _______ (visit, also) my uncle who lives nearby. |
|
| 6 | And what __________(you, now, do)? | |
| 7 | ______________ (have, I) lunch in 30 minutes. |
Comments
Hi, I'm a linguistics graduate and a freshly-minted TEFL teacher, and I have to say I really don't recognise this distinction. A student I know was recently given this exercise by another teacher who referenced this website. And I have to say not only did the lesson demoralise my student, but frankly it has me confused. Certainly, I did not score 100% on the above test. I'm really not sure this exercise is drawing a valid distinction. Maybe it is, but I need some references or something. I am an L1 English-speaker, and I must say I am having difficulty with this distinction. That is to say, I udnerstand the concept, and I understand the alleged difference, but I just don't recognise this difference myself.
sad. Maybe you should open a grammar book, especially if you are going to teach English.
Sorry, but I agree. This is a bad activity. I've been teaching for years, and none of the other English teachers I've spoken to understand this. The distinction is not clear enough to teach.
I dont think you need to be so rude on your comments, and the least you could do is be brave enough to put your name and not hide behind "anonymous"
-you could for instance, give some constructive criticism and help rather than lash out. you must agree this is a complicated topic.
thank you
The distinction is important enough to determine whether a student has mastered the English language, understood the nuances of the future tense, and sounds "natural" (according to a native speaker). Perhaps you should choose to be a basic level TEFL teacher rather than an advanced-level teacher so that you won't further confuse yourself and your students. BTW, it might help to use spell check as well.
Hello,
I am not good in English, however I have a little knowledge on how to use "will" and "going to".
We should use "will" when we have a simultaneous thought of doing an action in the present, meaning you have just decided to do an action "now" or doing something in the future which is not intentional. Whereas, "going to" is used when a certain action is already decided in the past and is still to be done in the future, in short, the action is progressive, and that is the reason why the progressive form of verb "going" is used.
Thank you for sharing.
Wow! Lots of confusion here - even among English mother tongue speakers. After 5 years of trying to make it easy for French people to understand English I take the stance that the choice of future tense is not as rigid as say deciding whether to use Past Simple/Present Perfect (although the Americans have thrown the rulebook on that one out of the window) or Present Simple/Present Continuous.
HOWEVER, although English speakers will understand you if you choose the wrong future tense, it is a case of levels of certainty, and the uses OVERLAP.
Level 1 - Future Simple - I (or any other subject)'ve just this minute decided something - even if I now have the intention..... or prediction by intuition.
Level 2 - Future "going to" - It's already been decided and I'm telling you about it... or prediction with external evidence.
Level 3 - Present Continuous - It's 95% going to happen at a fixed time in the future.
The example I use is HOLIDAYS - just decided, "I've got it! I'll go to Egypt!" intention to "I'm going to travel to Egypt", or got the ticket and the reservation "I'm travelling to Egypt next month"....
Hope this is of help...
Andrew
Oh yes, almost forgot...
I do tell my students not to use Future Simple all the time or people will think they always take all decisions on the "spur of the moment" and will appear a bit "simple"...
Haha
Andrew
I will try to remember this one!
Hi, Andrew.
I've been an English teacher for more than 8 years now in Venezuela. And Sapnish speakers (here)tend to use BE+GOING TO more than WILL . It seems to be easier for them to express any future idea by using this structure. I guess it is, on the one hand, because they can recognize and internalize BE+GOING TO a lot better and faster than WILL since the latter is an auxiliary and Sapnish lacks of auxiliaries. On the other hand, BE+GOING TO looks more familiar to the same future structure we have in Spanish (estar (BE) yendo (GOING) a (TO).
Certainly, there was some confusion about this Future thing all around, but your explanation was very clear. In fact, I usually show similar examples when teaching this content.
Best regards for everyone!
Prof. E. Martínez
Venezuela
I think the exercise is fine.However, there is a slight problem. In English we " take " a test . We don't " pass " a test unless we have good results.
Old English teacher.
Nice & useful exercises
thanx
Sir Profenglish
M.A - Methods of Teaching English
Look friends! I f you really want a definite answer to your questions then have a look at"English Practical Grammar" it's a reference to all grammatical questions.
Oh, a BOOK. You know, I'd never have thought of that!
I'm a teacher and teach the following to my students - and it seems to work well. They don't make many mistakes at all using this method...
WILL
* Promises - examples: I will pay you back tomorrow; I will phone you tonight
*1st conditional - example: If it's hot tomorrow, I will go to the beach
*predictions used with maybe, perhaps, I guess, I think - examples: Maybe she will phone tonight; perhaps they won't come
*decision made at that moment - examples: I didn't realise you were here! I will tell Clive now; I am so tired. I will have to finish the report tomorrow
*Requests - example - Will you open the window please? ; will you phone her at six please?
GOING TO
*Predictions using 5 senses - examples: look at the sky! It's going to rain; Listen! the concert is going to start
*Decided already - examples - We booked tickets last month. We're going to fly to Russia and then catch a train; I've already decided I'm not going to come out tonight.
Hello
I see this award as you know better please help me with the following test:
Fill empty spaces in the dialogue below with appropriate forms of construction will or be going.
Jack: Mum, I've got a headache.
Mum: Have you? I_____ get you an aspirin.
....
Abby: You aren't ill!
Jack: I know, but I ________ go to school today.
Abby: I __________ go to the cinema later. Do you want to come?
Jack: No, I can't. Mum ____ stay with me at home all day.
Mum: Jack, I ______________ go to the chemist. Do you want anything else?
Jack: Some sweets please.
Mum: All right. I____ get you some.
my email : spataru4christ@yahoo.com
Thanks !
I really think that the squabble between you guys is not going to reach the X right point. I think the Brazilian culture means "I am the best", It's like my soccer team is the best, my religion is the most perfect and so on. I lived in US for almost 35 years and I know exactly what this kind of arguements are. ANONIMOUS you are not to be here. GO OUT.
hi,these exercises r very good .w can test ourselves