One of the things that makes English a rich language is the variety and flexibility of the tenses. This is covered in huge detail in my book, The English Tenses Practical Grammar Guide, but this post will give you a quick introduction! The future tense is possibly the most dynamic of the tenses, as it can be formed from other tenses, as well as use its own form. Some constructions of the future tense include:
- Present tense + future time
- Present continuous + future time
- Will or shall + simple present
- Will + present perfect
- Will + present perfect continous
Simple present tense + future time
We use the present tense and a future time for scheduled events, or when plans are fixed. For example:
- The train leaves Brighton at 13.30.
- I start my new job on Monday.
- What time does the film start?
- Tomorrow is Monday.
Present continuous + future time
We use the present continuous and a future time for something that is decided or arranged for the future. It is less formal than using the simple present. For example:
- We‘re playing tennis on Thursday.
- What are you doing this evening?
- They‘re getting married in Spring.
The most common use of present continuous for a future meaning is with to be + going to. Again, it is mostly used for events that have been decided/arranged. For example:
- I am going to watch the film.
- She is going to marry him, as soon as he proposes.
Will + bare infinitive
We use will and a bare infinitive when we decide to do something at the time of speaking, or it has an immediate impact (unlike the present tenses with future meanings, where the action is already arranged). For example:
- I‘ll shut the door.
- He will have an orange juice.
- They‘ll be back shortly. (Not ‘They come back shortly.’ which would suggest a more general or recurring event.)
We can use shall instead of will as a more formal way to ask questions.
Will + present perfect
We use will and the the present perfect to discuss the completion of something in the future. For example:
- I will have learnt the future tenses by tomorrow.
- By sunset, they will have visited all of Brighton’s bars.
Will + present perfect continuous
We use will and the present perfect continuous to discuss how long an event has been occurring for at a point in the future. For example:
- This summer, I will have been teaching English for 6 years. (And am still teaching it.)
- By next week, I will been playing the violin for 3 months.
For more information on the uses of both the present tense and the present perfect continuous, please read this article on future tenses, or for a full understanding of all the tenses, check out my complete grammar guide.
Hello,
My first question is if I say that an action will happen in the future, must I say when the action will happen or occur? For instance, using simple future tense, I can say “I will complete my homework” – this means that my action of completing the homework will happen in the future, but is it grammatically correct to say “I will complete my homework” without specifying a time such as “next week” as in “I will complete my homework next week”?
My second question is on the meaning of the word “happen”. Dictionaries will state “occur” or “take place” as synonyms, but when i use the word “happen”, for example in the simple future tense such as the above example of me completing my homework, does “happen” mean that the action will start and end in the future? What if I am talking about an action in the past using the simple past tense or present perfect simple tense, such as “I completed my homework” or I have completed my homework”, does this mean that the action of completing homework (for these two sentences in simple past/present perfect) started and ended in the past?
So the word “happen”, when we say an event or an action “happen”, simple means that something starts and ends (i.e. occur), regardless of the tense of the action right?
Hi Tim,
No, for future actions we do not need to specify a time when using the future forms (will/going to) and in some contexts with the present continuous (e.g. if it’s understood we’re talking about the future). The exception is with the present simple for future time, which would not work grammatically without a time.
You’ve asked a few questions on the “happen” idea but I think the final one covers them, to say that yes, “happen” simply means it starts and ends, regardless of tense – so it could start and end in the past or the future depending on the tense of the clause. “It will happen” would mean to start and end in the future, and “It happened” would mean it started and ended in the past. I hope that helps?
Phil
Hello,
So the word “happen” as in something happened or will happen, just means something (for example an event or action described with a verb) started and ended or something will start and end.
So for simple future tense, like “I will complete my homework”, this just means my action of completing homework will start and end in the future?
Likewise for simple past tense “I completed my homework” means that the action of completing homework started and ended in the past?
or for present perfect tense “I have completed my homework” also means that the action of completing started and ended in the past?
Did I get the above right?
Hi Tim,
Yes you are correct though an example like ‘to complete’ is a little confusing in terms of talking about how something starts and ends; you will technically start and end the completing in each of these times, exactly as you say, though to be clear you may have started the action that is being completed before. If that makes sense! (I.e. If you start/end the completion in the future, the homework itself might have been started in the past but not finished.) Whereas with a verb like ‘to do’ might be a clearer idea – “I will do my homework” = start and end in the future.
Hello Phil,
Thank you. I do have one last question about the present perfect tense. I know the present perfect tense is often used to indicate that a past action (i.e. an action which started and ended in the past) has an effect on the present/current time. So an example of the present perfect tense – “I have done my homework” simply means that the action of doing my homework started and ended in the past, but that this past action has a present effect such as “I am hence now free to play games”. This is the right use of the present perfect tense, correct?
Also, is this the very reason why this tense (though used to describe an action which started and ended in the past but which has an effect on the present) is called the “present” perfect tense?
Hi Tim, yes that is a correct understanding/use of the present perfect, and I think you are correct that that is why it has the name ‘present’ perfect, even though it is describing a past activity – because it has an impact on the present.
Hi , could you make a lesson , please about future in past .while writing, I have a difficulty when I have to write the idea about future in past . please explain why we can’t use past time expression with this concept. Such as as soon as , before , after
https://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/futureinpast.html
Hi Maryam,
I’ve had a few requests for future in the past lately so I will do something for this soon; I’ll try and include something on time expressions too.
Phil