62 Predictions - Will & Going to

The Future is the tense used to predict or talk about future events. We have many ways to talk about the future. {see Future Simple, A2 Level}

We use the Future Simple to express opinions, spontaneous decisions and hopes.

We use the “be going to” structure to express intentions for the future and make previsions based on signs we see at that moment.

You can see the differences between two structures:

Will

• I don’t think they will win tonight.
• They think he will get this job, he is very competent.
• She will be at the hostel at 12.30, she is punctual.
• She won’t be at the hostel at 12.30, she is not punctual.
• Will she be at the hostel at 12.30?

Be going to

• It’s sunny, it is not going to rain.
• They are driving too fast, they are going to crash.
• He is going to eat all his sandwiches.
• He is not going to eat all his sandwiches.
• Is he going to eat all his sandwiches?

Will and be going to are both used to make predictions but the meaning is still slightly different.

Will:

• We use will + infinitive to make general predictions;
• Will + infinitive prediction is less probable and based on our personal judgement or intuition. We often use a thinking verb with it.

Be going to:

• We use be going to + infinitive to predict the near future which seems sure to happen as the evidence is present at the moment of speaking;

We have two ways to talk about the future. We use “will +infinitive” (the Future Simple) to make a general prediction and “be going to + infinitive” to predict the near future which seems sure to happen. The Future Simple and “be going to” have different structures.

For example:
— “I believe I will be at the airport at 22.30, my flight is at 24.00″ = I am making a prediction.
— “I am going to take an exam tomorrow.” = It is certain that I am going to take an exam tomorrow.

Let’s revise this content within the [Form] section. Take a look at the [Example] section that shows its use within a context.