The future with 'be going to'

There are several different ways to talk about the future in English, and one of the most common is ‘Be going to’. It’s used in informal and formal language, in and out of work situations, so it’s ideal for you to feel confident about using it. It’s for this reason that it’s the first future form you learn at Wall Street English. 

Here we’ll look at: 

• When to use Be going to 
• How to form phrases with Be going to 
• How Be going to compares to Will 

So read on to get more familiar with this really useful English form.  

When do we use Be Going To? 

There are two situations when we use Be going to:  

1. To talk about intentions 
2. To make predictions 

The most common use of Be going to is to describe intentions. It refers to a future action that we’ve already decided to do. For example: 

“What are you going to do on Saturday morning?”  

(What’s your plan / intention?) 

“I’m going to do some housework.”  

(I decided before this moment. The action is in the future.) 

Here are some other examples:  

• The visitors are hungry so I’m going to order some lunch for them. 
• When are the suppliers going to deliver the goods? 
• Alex is going to meet some new customers this afternoon. 
• What are we going to do about the orders?  
• I’m going to buy some new clothes next weekend. 
• They’re not going to come back to the office before their flight.  
• She’s going to buy a new car next month because her old one keeps breaking down. 

The second use of Be going to is to make predictions based on current evidence. For example,  

The appointment is in 5 minutes but there’s a lot of traffic – we’re going to be late! 

(I see a lot of traffic now that indicates an almost certain future.) 

Here are some other examples: 

• Look at those black clouds – it’s going to rain soon. 
• That restaurant is going to close soon. It’s always empty. 
• Our team is 3 goals ahead with 2 minutes left. We’re going to win! 
• You’re not going to pass the exam if you don’t study more. 
• He’s doing a brilliant job. I bet he’s going to get a promotion soon. 

How to form phrases with Be going to 

As you can see, we create this future form using the verb ‘go’, but there is no connection between the usual meaning of ‘to go’ and the future form Be going to. The structure is: 

• subject + am/are/is + going to + verb (base form) 

The only part that changes in this form is the verb ‘to be’. Here is the structure using Be going to with the verb ‘work’: 

Useful tip! 

When we use Be going to in spoken English, it’s very common and natural to say ‘gonna’, which is simply the result of saying ‘going to’ quickly. You’ve probably heard ‘gonna’ used in songs or perhaps on TV. It’s absolutely acceptable in speech and you’ll sound like a native speaker if you use it! But don’t use it when you write emails at work because it’s too informal in that case. 

Be going to vs Will  

When we think of the future in English, the first thing we typically think of is ‘will’, but other future forms, like Be going to, are equally as common.  

The key difference between Be going to and Will is when we decide to do the future action. As we’ve seen, Be going to is used to talk about future actions we’ve already decided to do in the future. We use ‘will’ when we decide at the moment of speaking. For example, compare the following: 

“What are your plans for tonight?” – “I’m not sure. I think I’ll call Sam and see if she’s free.” (I decide now) 

“What are your plans?” – “I’m going to study at the library with Juan.” 

(I decided before this moment)  

When we talk about predictions, we can use Will or Be going to with a similar meaning. For example:  

“I think he’ll pass the exam.” OR “I think he’s going to pass the exam.”  

The main difference is that Be going to indicates there is current evidence to sustain the prediction. For example: 

“He’s done very well in every other exam this year so I think he’s going to pass this one too.” 

What about you? Are you going to practice and improve your English this week? Are you going to need English in your future job or studies? Why not find out more about how you can improve your English with one of our English courses?