Let's talk about the future, part 2

Thanksgiving lunch at our Midtown branch STARTS at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow. ARE
you HANGING AROUND after your classes & PARTICIPATING in the feast? 

If you read our last blog lesson, you've gone through part 1 of my post on fine tuning (perfecting) your use of the future tenses. We focused on the simple future, the future with "be going to," and how one or the other is better in some situations.

In part 2, we'll focus on the use of the present tenses--the SIMPLE PRESENT and the PRESENT PROGRESSIVE--to talk about the future.

The good news is it couldn't be any simpler; there are just a couple of things to remember. First, if you also want to say that a future event is definitely going to happen because you've already made the decision, you can use the PRESENT PROGRESSIVE.

The following examples all mean that the future events are all set to happen. The subjects have made their decisions and will definitely do the activities mentioned.

• She'S MEETING her teacher this afternoon.
• They'RE HAVING dinner later this evening.
• He'S STAYING another week in New York.

The other thing to remember is if a future activity is a scheduled event or an appointment, you can use the SIMPLE PRESENT. The following are examples.

• The meeting STARTS at 8 a.m. tomorrow.
• His flight LEAVES very early on Sunday.
• The fall semester ENDS next month.

That's it, folks! Reread these posts, practice using the future tenses we mentioned in part 1 & here in part 2, and you're on your way to mastering all of them! All the best, & have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

-- Joe Yu, ESL instructor