Going to — future plans and intentions
The other way to talk about the future: going to for plans already decided and predictions based on what you can see now — and how it is different from will (Units 11 and 17).
Units 11 and 17 taught will for the future. English has a second, very common future form: be going to. They are not interchangeable — each one answers a different question about the future.
A — Form: am / is / are + going to + base verb
going to never changes — only the form of be in front of it changes.
| Subject | Positive | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | I'm going to travel. | I'm not going to travel. | Am I going to travel? |
| he / she / it | She's going to call you. | She isn't going to call you. | Is she going to call you? |
| we / you / they | They're going to move house. | They aren't going to move house. | Are they going to move house? |
The rest of this lesson is in the General English course:
- Remember
- B — going to job 1: a plan already decided
- C — going to job 2: a prediction based on evidence now
- D — will or going to? Decision now vs plan already made
- E — Classic pairs: telling them apart
- Correct vs wrong
Try it: The right form of be + going to
Choose the correct form for the subject.
- I ___ going to visit my cousins next week.
(a) am (b) is (c) are - She ___ going to start a new job on Monday.
(a) am (b) is (c) are - They ___ going to move to a new flat.
(a) am (b) is (c) are - ___ you going to come to the party?
(a) Am (b) Is (c) Are - He ___ going to studies medicine. (find the mistake)
(a) He's going to study medicine. (b) He's going to studies medicine. (c) He going to study medicine.
Check your answers in the course — it marks them instantly. This is one of the unit's 5 exercises; the other 4 are in the General English course too.
Practise this unit in the course →