Future with Will

A2–B1TensesJanuary 13, 2026

Transcript

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hi i'm rebecca in this class you'll

learn the easiest way to talk about the

future in english

and that is by using the word will

when we use the word will we are in fact

using the future simple tense

this class is part of a series created

by ingvid to help you master all of the

english verb tenses step by step so you

can communicate more fluently in english

so when we talk about the future what do

we mean

we're talking about anything that

happens after now

for example it could be something that

happens five minutes from now

or 50 years from now

all of that is the future

and in english we have many

tenses and ways to talk about the future

some of them are basic

and some of them are more advanced

so let's start by looking at some basic

ways to talk about the future in english

all right so

three basic ways are by using

the phrase going to

by using the present continuous for the

future

or

by using will which is what our class

today is going to be focusing on

so how can we think about this

let's look up here first

if you're talking about some formal

situation

something more official and formal in

business in academics or even in a

social situation with someone you don't

know very well for example

if it's formal

it's very easy then all you do is you

use will to talk about the future okay

that's it

now

what if the situation is a little more

informal

either when you're speaking or when

you're writing

same thing here

in speaking and writing if it was formal

we're going to use will

but if it's an informal situation

maybe it's more casual it's more

friendly it's with people that you know

then you have to consider two points

is the thing you're talking about the

action

is it something that is planned in

advance

or is it something

unplanned

and happening at the moment of speaking

let me explain

so if it's planned

then we would use this phrase going to

or we would use present continuous

for example we might say

i'm going to meet john tomorrow

because you have a plan to do that you

may have an appointment to do that

or you could say

i'm meeting john tomorrow

same thing okay

same thing

it's planned in advance

but

if it's unplanned

that means what what do we mean by

unplanned it just came up let's suppose

you're at a meeting and someone says hey

could you meet john tomorrow

and you say

okay i'll meet john tomorrow

so you just decided at the moment of

speaking and it's an informal situation

because you know john

so then we can use will

and of course as we already said

if it's a formal situation then we use

will planned unplanned doesn't matter

it's a formal situation

then we would say something like

i will meet mr williams tomorrow

okay

so this is your basic overview and of

course we'll be looking at all of this

in more detail so you really understand

it very well and can use it correctly

yourself now let's look at when we can

use the future simple tense in real life

as you know

we can use it in formal situations

for example

the ceremony will begin at eight

okay it's an official ceremony maybe

it's an award ceremony a graduation

ceremony so it's something formal and

official so we can use it in that

context right the ceremony will begin

there's our future

we can use it in planned events

for example

you call to make an appointment and the

receptionist says

okay the doctor will see you at three

o'clock

so this is something that's planned it's

an appointment

right the doctor will see

all right

good

we can also use it very often to talk

about business

for example

abc company will open a new factory

all right here we have will open

so this is like an official announcement

it's a little more formal right

so we see that we see will being used in

its full form

next we can also use it when predicting

something about the future

for example

experts say

food prices will rise

we see here

will rise

okay they're making a prediction about

what might happen in the future

we can also use it as we saw for

informal situations

for example

i'll call you later

now we see that when it's informal we're

using that contraction we'll look at

that more in a short while but you can

notice it here i'll call you later

same thing informal right

you can also use it for something that's

not planned in advance

informally for example

hey i'll give you a ride to the subway

let's suppose you and your colleague are

just stepping out of the office and

suddenly it starts pouring rain or

there's a big snowstorm and you have a

car and your colleague doesn't so you

say hey i'll give you a ride to the

subway

i'll give

okay

next you can use it

for ordering food for example when you

order food in a restaurant you don't

always decide in advance what you're

going to order you look at the menu you

see what you feel like and then you

order something so you're kind of making

that decision on the spot

so you might say something like i'll

have a small cheese pizza

i'll have

okay so we can use it

as i said to talk about like the

immediate future right right away

because you're ordering right now

you can also use it when you're

promising something about the future

for example

i'll return your book tomorrow

okay

i'll return

next

you can use it when you're offering

something

for example

i'll help you finish the report

i see that you've got a lot of work left

hey i'll help you finish the report okay

i'll help

next

we can also use it lots of times to talk

about possibility

we're not sure but it's possible that

something will happen or that we will do

something

for example

maybe i'll take a break

and watch a movie tonight

maybe somebody's been studying very hard

or working very hard and they just want

to relax so they say you know what maybe

i'll take a break

so this maybe

is possibility uncertainty

about the future so then also we can use

the future simple tense now let's look

at how we form the future simple tense

and i really think you're going to love

this part because it's so easy

let's see how it's done

so i've divided the board into three for

positive sentences

negative sentences and four questions

so the basic structure that you're going

to follow for a positive sentence is

that you take the subject

which is i you we they he she it etc

plus will

plus

the verb in its base form

that's the interesting part you don't

have to change the verb at all

in many languages in the future tense

you have to change the entire verb

sometimes for every different subject

but in english no you don't

this is one of those times when english

is actually easier than many other

languages so let's see how to do it

so in a positive sentence we would say

i will work

all right this is our base form of the

verb and all we're doing is we're taking

the subject we're using will before it

and the verb doesn't change

you say it after me

i will

work you will work

we will work

they will work

he will work

she will work

and it will work

okay

that's basically it

now what happens when we make it

negative it's very simple we're just

adding the word

not okay

i will not work he will not work

they will not work tomorrow okay like

that very simple

then

to make a question we have to change the

order

so we say

will i work tomorrow i don't know

will you work

will we work

will they work

will he work

will she work

will it work tomorrow

okay

so that's the question you're just

changing the order but there are not

there are no other special changes

that's basically it it's really

as straightforward and simple as you

could wish

now here are some other points to keep

in mind when we're using this tense

very often we can use some expressions

before this

you don't have to but you can

for example

you could say

i think

they will work tomorrow

or

i believe

he'll work tomorrow

i suppose

she'll work tomorrow

or i imagine

we will work tomorrow i don't know i

don't think it's a holiday i imagine

that we will work tomorrow

like that okay

or you could also make it negative for

example i don't think

they will work tomorrow

because it's a holiday

okay so you can do that i don't think i

don't believe and so on but again do you

have to use this no you don't have to

you could just use these and that's fine

now

one other point instead of will not work

you're going to see

that we can also use some contractions

we'll learn more about that soon but

a very common and necessary contraction

for will not

is won't

so instead of saying i will not work

especially if it's informal right then

we just say i won't work

all right he won't work tomorrow she

won't work

we'll look at that again very soon

and

before questions

sometimes we add question words

for example we could say where will they

work

when will they work how long will they

work right so if you do that then just

put that word here like where

will

he work okay

that's it all right now one other

question that i get very often when we

start learning will

is what about shall

i've heard that we can say shall

sometimes instead of will

well it's like this

usually in sentences okay positive or

negative

we don't in north america we really

don't use shall in the sentence instead

of will

we do not usually say i shall go there

because it sounds very formal and very

official and just very a little bit

old-fashioned a little bit like

shakespeare which is wonderful but it's

not really used

so i would not encourage you to use it

in sentences or in negative sentences

what we do

sometimes though is we use it to create

a kind of a polite question

so

we could say for example

only with i or we

you could ask somebody

shall i order

shall i order dinner

it's just like a polite way of asking

about something in the future or shall i

bring some dessert when i come to your

house

or

shall we dance

or

shall we begin

like shall we begin the lesson

that's fine

we do use it in questions like this very

polite questions but really not anywhere

else

and that's basically how it works

remember

that you can also

do the same thing

with

irregular verbs

okay

it doesn't matter because the verb isn't

going to change right so you could say i

will go like go is an irregular verb but

you don't need to change it at all just

keep the base form of the verb

i will go i won't go

will they go

same thing all right and that's how you

form this tense now let's look at when

and how to use contractions with the

future simple tense

so first of all when do we not use them

we do not use contractions or shortened

forms when we're speaking or writing

formally

for example

here

these are formal examples

dr johnson will speak at the conference

it's a positive sentence it's a formal

sentence so we do not and should not

shorten it or contract it

in this example the manager will not

complete the reports

also formal more official it's negative

but it doesn't matter because it's

formal so when it's formal or academic

or needs to be very businesslike then do

not use contractions

so when can we use contractions when

we're speaking or writing informally

so

how do we do it

so instead of saying

i will be on time

we join together the words i will

and it becomes i'll

say it after me

i'll be on time

you'll be on time

we'll be on time

they'll be on time

he'll be on time

she'll be on time

and it'll be on time

it will

okay it will be on time

so all of these are contractions for

the subject plus will

shortened and contracted

now we can do the same thing with the

negative form

instead of saying i will not

we can say what

i

won't

say it after me i won't

i won't be on time

oh sorry

i won't be late

i will be on time but i won't be late

you won't be late

we won't be late

they won't be late

he won't be late

she won't be late

and it won't be late

it's important that you pronounce this

word correctly

don't say it like the verb want it's not

want it's

won't

say it again

won't

i won't

he won't

all right so make sure you're

pronouncing it correctly in terms of the

o and also make sure you're saying the t

sound the t sound at the end

and of course you could use these with

all kinds of verbs

here we use the verb be

i won't be i will be but we could say

i'll call you later

i'll talk to you later

i'll see you later

these are very common words and

expressions that we use every day using

contractions now let's look at how to

give short answers in the future simple

tense

so

when do we give short answers when

someone asks a question we don't have to

repeat everything they said

we just answer in short like this

so if someone says

will he be in madrid tomorrow

you could say

yes he will

or

if it's formal you can say

no he will not

or

informally no he won't

all right so it's really easy to know

how to give this short answer if it's

positive we just take it

from the question itself

yes he will

and if it's negative you're still going

to use the negative contraction

no he won't

or

no he will not only if it's formal

okay

let's look at another example

will the flight arrive on time

so you could say what

yes it

will

or

know it won't

now what's important

to notice here is that when it's

positive

we cannot use any contraction

and the same here in any example

whenever it's a positive answer

then no contraction if it's a negative

answer yes you can contract it you can

shorten it

okay

let's look at the last example

will you invite a lot of people to your

party

so you could say

yes i

will

or

no i

won't

again

no contraction is possible for the

positive answer

and look for most of these you can also

take the subject from the question it

with itself right

will he be yes he will will the flight

arrive yes it will the only time you

need to change the subject is if they

ask about you

because you can't say yes you you're not

they're asking about you so they say

will you invite a lot of people and you

say yes i will or no i won't now let's

practice what you've learned

we'll make some positive sentences

some negative ones and then some

questions

okay let's get started number one

i

something give you the recipe

so how would we express that in the

future simple tense

i

what do we put

will

give you the recipe okay

i told you it's really simple we don't

have to change the verb we're just

basically adding what

will so

number two

don't worry

you blank

pass the exam

what will it be

don't worry

you

will

pass

the exam

okay that's it that's all

number three

the bank blank

close at five o'clock

the bank

will

close at five all right great so that

was

positive okay when we're making positive

sentences now let's take these verbs and

let's make this entire sentence negative

the store

blank deliver on sunday

and let's use a contraction

the store

what do we say

won't

deliver

on sunday we could have also said the

store will not deliver on sunday but

basically the verb

stays the same

next number five

he

blank

be home until eleven

what would it be

he

let's use the contraction again

he

won't

be

home until 11 o'clock

all right good we could also say what he

will not be home until 11. all right

number six

i blank

have time tomorrow

make it negative

i

use the contraction

i won't

have time tomorrow

or i

will not have time tomorrow okay

wonderful you're doing great now let's

make some questions

blank they blank

make an announcement

remember with the questions we have to

change the order

so which word do we use first

we say what

will

they

make

an announcement

will they make not they will make but

will they make all right that's how we

form the question

number eight

blank she blank get the job

how do we make the question

will

she

get the job all right

excellent

and the last one is actually the title

of a very famous song

let's see if you can figure it out

blank you still blank

love me tomorrow

so what will it be

will

you

still

love me tomorrow all right

so there you go you've practiced

positive sentences negative sentences

and questions great work

now let's look at some common mistakes

to be careful of when using the future

simple tense

so the first one is with the word will

itself

let's read the sentence and you can help

me correct it

this person wanted to talk about the

future but they wrote

they meet you at the hotel

so what's wrong there

the will was missing

where does it belong

they

will meet you at the hotel okay so don't

forget to write will all right

that's the first point second

sometimes mistakes are made in the

contraction

let's look at this one

well be home soon

right now if i were just to read it

it would read like that

well

be home soon

but it should be

because this person wanted to say we

will

be home soon but they wanted to use the

contraction so what's wrong there

right now it doesn't look like a

contraction

so we need to add the apostrophe

we'll

be home soon

so make sure you spell it correctly the

contraction and also pronounce it

correctly

we'll be home soon okay very nice

the next one is

again a spelling mistake it's possible

okay so this student wrote the kids

won't go to sleep

but that's not what the person was

trying to say they wanted to say the

kids will not go to sleep and they want

to use the contraction

but they didn't use the right word

the word is not

w-a-n-t

it should be what

w

o

n

apostrophe t

so if you're using the contraction make

sure you don't say want say won't

and then make sure it's spelled

correctly as well

all right now here's another point we

didn't cover this point before but it's

really important and you'll get it it's

not hard to understand

it's also a common mistake because in

many languages it is possible to write

like this but in english it's not

possible to do this

so here we are talking about conditional

sentences

type 1 conditional sentences okay if

you're looking it up in a grammar book

you can check some more

so what happens in these kind of

sentences we are talking about real

possible situations in the future

all right and the sentence often has two

parts

let's read it first with the mistake

if i will visit greece

i will call you

now in many languages

both parts of these sentences

both clauses can be in the future tense

the if clause

plus the main clause

but

in english no i'm sorry we can't do that

so in the if clause the if part of the

sentence we cannot use will

we have to use just present simple

so the correct version of this sentence

would be

if i visit greece

i will call you

okay

now

what am i saying i'm saying you have to

change the if part of the sentence not

the first part of the sentence or the

second part of the sentence just

wherever the if clause is

for example if i switch this sentence

around i could say

i will call you

if i will visit greece

that's also wrong

this time the sentence started with the

main clause i will call you that's fine

but in the if clause

the if part of the sentence again we

cannot use that

will we cannot use future in the if part

of the sentence or the conditional part

of the sentence all right

so remember that because it's quite

possible that in your language it is

completely correct to do it the way it

was on the board but in english it's not

now what's also important to remember

that it's not only with the word if it's

any kind of word that creates a

condition

for example

when

when i visit greece i will call you

as soon as i visit greece i will call

you

all of these are conditional words

or before i visit greece i will call you

or

after i visit greece i will call you

okay and again remember the order

doesn't matter what matters

is if it is a conditional sentence all

right so these are some of the most

common mistakes and be careful of them

when you are speaking and writing with

that future simple tense

to review

you know the future simple tense when

you know when to use it and how to use

it

all of which you have been learning

during this class

so by now you should be able to make

what a positive sentence a negative

sentence a question

easily and comfortably in english let's

look at the last example

let's say someone has gone to the

supermarket and then you say

he will return soon

our positive sentence

or

he will not return soon he has a lot of

shopping to do

or we can contract that and say he won't

return soon

or we can make a question

will he return soon

or

when will he return

what time will he return

when you can form these kind of

sentences and questions easily and

comfortably you've got it okay

so

remember if you feel comfortable with

this and you feel you've understood

everything then that's fine if you need

a little more practice go back watch the

lesson

again pay attention to any parts that

you need to review and also

try to make some sentences about your

life about what's going on around you

what will you do tomorrow

okay write about that talk about it use

it to describe things happening around

you

when you're ready you can go on to the

next tense in this series

which is actually also about the future

remember i told you we can also use

going to and the present continuous for

the future

that's the next class in this series how

to use the future for informal

communication all right

and if you'd like a little more practice

on this one the future simple with will

you can go to invid to do a quiz there

all right so thanks very much for

watching and all the best with your

english

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About this lesson

Learn how to use “will” for predictions, quick decisions, offers, and promises.

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