When you start learning English, verb tenses and forms can be scary. 😱
So, you feel relief when you learn about will. It’s not so scary because all you need to do is add a verb after it and you can talk about the future. It’s exciting because you don’t need to think about who or what your subject is and you don’t need to change the endings on any words. That’s AMAZING! 😍
Then you learn about be going to. And once again, you need to think about your subjects and change things. But it means the same thing as will, so why use it? Right?
Well… The truth… The truth is… The truth is not so simple.
Did you know that “will” and “be going to” have slightly different uses? Sometimes they are interchangeable, and sometimes you have to make a choice about which one to use. 😮
Here’s a quick guide.
So, you can see that most of the time, will and be going to do mean the same thing – they help you guess about what might happen, because who really knows what will happen? Though, now and again, we try to plan the future. When you plan, remember to indicate when you made your plans – now or sometime before now. That’s not so bad, right? Not at all!
Learning Tip! If this is new for you, help yourself make it a habit by talking to yourself about your plans for your day or week while getting ready in the mornings. Do that for 2 to 4 weeks, and this should become a solid habit.