Future Simple and arrangements
Remember that you should never use "will" to say what somebody has arrange or decided to do in the future:
- Mike is moving to New Jersey next month. (not "Mike will move")
- I'm going to visit my friend tonight. (not "I will visit" my friend tonight)
- Paul isn't free on Thursday. He's working in his aunt's shop.
As you can see, the Present Continuous and going to are used to express future arrangements.
Comments
In the above examples I am equally comfortable using the "will" form for the future action.
Both seem equally correct or standard to me.
I would never have commented on this except that I have the required credentials: native speaker of standard American English for decades with 25 years schooling and some knowledge of other languages.
RMH
You must have misunderstood me. I didn't write that "will" is incorrect to use for the future action in general. What I stated, though, is that "will" cannot be used when talking about arranged / planned actions, which might be a temptation for an ESL learner. Consider this example:
Person A: Have you booked your driving test yet?
Person B: Yes, I have. I'm going to take it in June. I can't do it earlier because my grandmother is visiting us this week.
Will in both cases would sound wrong because neither of them is about spontaneous decisions.
Person A: Have you booked your driving test?
Person B: No, I haven't yet...I completely forgot! I think I will book it this week.
In this example, "will" is correctly used.
"Person A: Have you taken your driving test?
Person B: Yes, I have. I'm going to take it in June. I can't do it earlier because my grandmother is visiting us this week.
Will in both cases would sound wrong because neither of them is about spontaneous decisions."
I have two issues with this example.
How can one respond to a question by saying that they have done something and then continue with "I'm going to...."
I find the example incorrect with Person B's initial response.
For Person B to have responded "Yes, I have." means that they have already taken the driving test, therefore denoting past tense. To then add Future Simple is incorrect as it mixes tenses.
I don't agree that "will" cannot be used in the example.
Person A: Have you taken your driving test?
Person B: No, I have not. I will take it in June. I can't do it earlier because my grandmother will us this week.
Although the "to be" and "continuous" combination of Future Simple 1 is more fitting, using "will" would not be incorrect.
Person B: No, I have not. I will take it in June. I can't do it earlier because my grandmother will us this week.
Sorry, I left out the word "visit"
The example should read,
Person B: No, I have not. I will take it in June. I can't do it earlier because my grandmother will visit us this week.
Hi J-zan,
Thank you for your comment. I used the verb "take" when I really meant "book". The sentence should read:
Have you booked your driving test yet?
I hope now my examples make sense.
Your second issue now.
- Yes, I have. I will take it in June. I can't do it earlier because my grandmother is visiting us this week.
I believe, what's wrong about using "will" here is it gives us the wrong idea about what the speakers really wants to say. "Will" makes the speaker sound somewhat unsure about the date, as if he could change it at any time.
I agree the example is not perfect, though. :-0
Hmm, I´m still not convinced that we can't (or don't in the case of native speakers) use "will" in the example you propose, especially if we contract the will. How about this:
Have you booked your driving test yet?
- Yes, I have. I´ll take it in June. I can't do it earlier because my grandmother is visiting us this week.
But I think we could settle the debate with a look at concordance lines in any decent sized corpus.
Thanks,
Anna
Dear RMH:
What did you think about the reply to your e-mail message? Do you agree?
Regards.
LRBJ, I'm afraid RMH isn't going to answer your question (BTW I have just used "going to" form to express a prediction based on observation *) because he did not enter his e-mail and no notification will be sent to him.
I have only recently made the e-mail field required.
_______________________________________________________________
* I could use "will" as well but it would mean that my prediction is based on my intuition (or experience).
- I'm afraid he won't answer your question -- few people do
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