Helping Hints for the Future
Auxiliary Verbs Used with Future Tenses
Future with 'Will':
Use 'will' for the positive, negative and question forms in the future with 'will' to express spontaneous decisions and predictions. Remember that the negative contracted form of 'will not' is 'won't'.
Example:
Diversification of our funding streams won't take too much time.
You'll get to take the meeting minutes!
Future with 'Going to':
Use 'be' in the present tense + 'going to' for the positive, negative and question forms for the future with 'going to' to express future plans and intentions.
Example:
The CEO is going to make a presentation about the importance of corporate lobbying at the conference next week.
Sheila isn't going to attend the conference on ecology and eco-technology in developing countries.
Future Perfect:
Use 'will have' for the positive, negative and question forms in the future perfect to express what will have been completed before a point in time in the future. Remember that the negative contracted form of 'will not' is 'won't'.
Example:
Frank will have left the country by the time the legislation gets through the House of Representatives.
I won't have secured legal assistance by the time the hearing starts.
Future Continuous:
Use 'will be' + the 'ing' for of the verb for the positive, negative and question forms for the future continuous to express what will be happening at a specific moment in time in the future.
Example:
When will you be doing knowledge management and not just information management?
Janet will be studying laws and practices at Harvard this time next week.