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Future
Time in English
No "Future Tense" But Lots of "Future Time" Choices
Although English does
not have a simple verb form for "future time" that corresponds to the
simple present tense and the simple past tense, we have many different
ways to talk about future time. Or, better, we can talk about the
future in many different ways. Like the old example that claims
that Native Peoples in Canada and Alaska have many different words for
"snow"--or words for many different types of "snow"--English has many
different ways to talk about different aspects of future time.
I'm belaboring this
point because I think it is important to realize that all of these ways
of talking about the future are not just synonyms for each other.
You can't always substitute one for another and maintain the same meaning.
Here are the future
time uses of a variety of verb forms:
will |
includes
a meaning of "future certainty" and "promise" |
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shall |
in
the U.S. mostly used for ritualized communication and sayings: We
shall overcome. I shall return. And in introductions
in textbooks about what will be included--In chapter 3, we shall
do xyz. Or, someone can say something like Shall we
begin? or some other polite command. |
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be
going to + verb |
refers
to a future action or event or state that grows out of current plans
or current causes--notice that the pronunciation for "going to"
is something like "gonna"--in all types of U.S. English except for
formal speaking, of course. What're you going to take next
semester? |
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present
progressive |
This
verb form that is commonly used for things happening in present
time can also be used for future time. Context is all!
Notice the use of the future time adverbials in the examples. |
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simple
present |
Used
in 2 ways.
First, for a
scheduled event: The new store opens tomorrow morning.
Second, in a
subordinate clause when the main clause has a future time meaning
and structure.
After
he studies Spanish, he will take a trip to Mexico.
Because
she loves warm weather, she's going to move to Florida.
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modal
+ progressive |
As
in He will be studying sociology next summer. However, all
of the modals can be used for various senses of certainty as in
She might be visiting Mexico over the break. |
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be
(about) to |
the
be (about) to + verb version is used for future requirements--and
has an official feel to it--something about the implementation of
a rule or a necessity
the be about
to+ verb version means that something is planned for the near
future
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be fixing to |
in the Southern U.S., this expression
refers to something in the very very very near future--immediately--at
once. If you ask a Southerner to do something, and the reply
is "I'm fixing to." That means "right now." It's not
a delaying tactic but an expression of immediate intent |
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future
time in the past |
The idea is that the central time is the past--like in a biography
or autobiography or history text or novel. Then, the writer
talks about something in the future--out in front of that central
past time. While Franklin Roosevelt was not a serious student,
he was destined to become a major agent for change in U.S.
national and international policy. He was to change ideas
about U.S. structure and status fundamentally. |
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modal
+ perfect |
In
this use, we look ahead to a future time and say that something
will be completed at that future time point. You will have
read most of the Longman Student Grammar by the end of the semester.
Generally, these statements are made with will but other
modals can be used for statements of a weaker level of certainty.
You might have enjoyed some of the reading! |
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In the 2nd edition
of their Grammar Book, Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen-Freeman
provide additional information about the contrasts among these various forms
(see pages 126-128):
will |
future predictions:
John will take a sociology course next semester.
"spontaneous
decision when the person has control over the action": The
phone rings and a person says: I'll get the phone. Or,
I'll answer. Or, I'll get it.
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be going to
+ verb |
future predictions
in a less formal style than with will: John's going to take a
sociology course next semester.
future intentions
based on previous plans and decisions: John is going to teach
in Mexico when he gets his master's degree.
future certainty
based on current condition or present evidence: It's going
to be cold this afternoon.
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present progressive |
future plans
that have already been made
I'm leaving
for school at 1 pm.
She's going
to Venezuela this spring.
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simple present |
Used in 2 ways.
First, for a
scheduled event: The new store opens tomorrow morning.
Second, in a
subordinate clause when the main clause has a future time meaning
and structure.
After
he studies Spanish, he will take a trip to Mexico.
Because
she loves warm weather, she's going to move to Florida.
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simple present
vs. present progressive for future time meaning |
very much alike
but the simple present is more formal and impersonal--often used
for travel arrangements and fixed timetables |
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present progressive
vs. be going to |
present progressive
emphasizes that plans have already been made while be going to
focuses on the speaker's plans or intentions. Notice this
interesting example that they give:
Where're
are you staying at TESOL?
(a) I'm
staying at the Marriott.
(b) I'm
going to stay at the Marriott.
These examples
need more context, but the idea is that (a) describes plans that
have been made while (b) is about the speaker and her/his intentions. |
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They remind us that stative verbs not used with
the present progressive and that's true for the future time meanings
as well as the present time meanings--so be going to is used--or
another form |
As you would expect, the present progressive is
used with action verbs rather than stative verbs:
Getting a new car is the setting for
their examples:
*The red car is belonging to me tomorrow."
The red car is going to belong to me tomorrow.
The red car will belong to me tomorrow.
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will vs.
be going to |
They say:
"Will and be going to are sometimes interchangeable
when be going to expresses the speaker's certainty and will
is used to make a strong prediction. However since be going
to is a present-tense form, it is used especially when there
is evidence in the present to support the prediction; this is not
necessarily the case with will."
And they--that
is, these two forms differ--also differ in that will is
used for quick, 'on-the-spot' decisions, whereas be going to is
used with more premeditated ones.
What
can I give Jill for her birthday?
Oh, I know.
I'll get her that new novel.
*Oh, I
know. I'm going to get her that new novel."
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Teaching Issues
How
are we to teach students to use these forms accurately and fluently?
As complete as they are, the charts of forms don't help us a great deal
in the preparation of teaching materials because they don't tell us anything
much about the contexts in which the forms are used. Well, I know
that the fixing to form is used by Southerners in conversation
to promise immediate action. That doesn't seem like an area that
we would want to work with much for ESL students--unless they live in
the South and have questions about the form. And the "on-the-spot quick
decision" use of will can be contextualized pretty easily.
But, when are the other forms used--in what settings? for what kinds of
communication? by what kinds of speakers? How do we write materials?
Where do we find authentic examples?
In a dissertation (Suh,
1992) discussed in the Grammar Book, samples of oral communication
are studied--little narratives of various sorts. The study shows
that we used some verbs to set up or frame a narrative and then other
verbs to give the details. For example, in the data studied for
future time narratives, be going to is used to frame the narrative
and the details are given with will. Look closely at the
passage reprinted by Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman from the Suh
dissertation:
Be going to vs. Will
in Narratives
from the White House
Transcripts (1974)
John Dean is speaking
I think what
is going to happen on the civil case is that the
judge is going to dismiss the complaint that is down there
right now. They will then file a new complaint
which will come back to Ritchie again. That will
probably happen the 20th, 21st, 22nd. Then 20 days
will run before any answers have to be filed and the depositions
will be commenced. So we are eating up an
awful lot of time.
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Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman suggest setting up shorter frames of 1
or 2 sentences that even students at lower proficiency levels can understand
and use as models. Their models have be going to set up the
story and then can or will in the details.
Patrick
O'Brien is going to marry his American girlfriend so he can get a green
card.
I'm going to study
in Spain for a year next year so I'll be fluent in Spanish.
Indeed, when do we communicate
about future time at all? These samples from the Grammar Book show
one type of future time narrative in which a person explains what will
take place over a period of time in the future. I can imagine that
lawyers and doctors--and academic advisors?--use this pattern quite a
lot. We need to be on the look out for other authentic samples like the
one with John Dean.
In trying to collect
authentic written examples of future time writing, I found very few samples
that were entirely focused on the future. Most of those were written
around the first of the year--in the late fall as predictions start to
be published about the upcoming year. On the other hand, I found
that future time references come at the ends of articles and book chapters
and student essays in a strategy for bringing the piece of writing to
a close by making predictions about what happens next. Clearly we
also talk a lot about future events--what's happening after class, before
dinner, next weekend. I've noticed this week that some television
programs end with future time statements about what to expect on the next
iteration of the show.
My point: we need to
find the contexts where future time is used and to work from those contexts
to provide our students with materials that show them how the future time
verbs are used and then give them opportunities to learn to make such
use in their own communication.
Based on these ideas,
how would you write materials and lessons to help students learn to use
the forms in that chart back at the beginning of this lecture?
Please email me your
questions or comments.
References
Biber,
D., Conrad, S., and Reppen, R. (1998). Corpus linguistics: Investigating
language structure and use. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Celce-Murcia,
M. and Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). 2nd Ed. The grammar book: An ESL/EFL
teacher's course. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
Suh,
K. H. (1992). A discourse analysis of the English tense-aspect-modality
system. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation in Applied Linguistics, University
of California Los Angeles.
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