THE SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE
The simple future is a verb tense that’s used to talk about things that haven’t happened yet.
This year, Jen will read War and Peace.
It will be hard, but she’s determined to do it.
Use the simple future to talk about an action or condition that will begin and end in the future.
The formula for the simple future is will + [root form of verb].
I will learn a new language.
Jen will read that book.
My brothers will sleep till noon if no one wakes them up.
You will see what I mean.
It doesn’t matter if the subject is singular or plural; the formula for the simple future doesn’t change.
But . . .
There is another way to show that something will happen in the future. It follows the formula am/is/are + going to + [root form verb].
I am going to learn a new language.
Jen is going to read that book.
My brothers are going to sleep till noon if no one wakes them up.
You are going to see what I mean.
The going to construction is common in both speech and casual writing. Keep in mind, though, that it’s on the informal side, so it’s a good idea to stick to the will + [root form] construction in formal writing.
