The future simple tense is one of 12 types of tenses in English. The future tense, in general, is used to talk about actions in the future. However, there are 4 types of future tense, and they all function differently.
In this article, we’re going to break down the simple future tense into 4 different categories, give you tons of example sentences and explain the grammar structure, so you can start creating your own simple future sentences!
What are you going to do when you get home tonight? What will you eat for dinner?
We generally use the simple future tense when discussing something happening and ending in the future.
We often refer to this tense as the will tense because it’s made with the modal auxiliary verb of "will," however, as you’ll discover, that’s not the only auxiliary verb we use with this future tense.
We use the future simple in the following situations: Use the arrow to scroll through the slideshow.
1) To discuss a future plan or activity.
2) To make predictions or assumptions about something in the future.
3) When asking questions about the future in the interrogative form of the simple future tense.
4) To hypothesize reactions to future events.
5) When directly commanding someone to do something.
6) When there isn’t a concrete plan.
7) When a plan is made at the moment of speaking, here we can use "think" instead of "will."
The simple future tense is pretty simple to grasp once you understand its grammatical structure.
To form the future simple in the affirmative, we usually add "will" before the main verb like this:
Subject + will + main verb (the present participle) + extra information.
Note: The subject doesn’t change the ending of the main verb in the future simple, unlike other tenses. The subject is purely to give context and extra information. For example.
So, regardless of the subject, the ending of the main verb doesn’t change.
Sometimes "shall" is used in the simple future tense instead of "will." However, it’s not a common practice for general English or informal writing, as you’re more likely to see this swap in formal legal documents, court orders, and formal writing.
In informal everyday speech, native speakers will often use the following structure when forming a simple future phrase:
Subject + be + going to + main verb + extra information
In this structure, "be" is conjugated to agree with the sentence's subject.
With the future simple, you can use contractions to make the sentence less complex and informal.
Want to know how to form the simple future in affirmative, negative, and interrogative? Check out these simple future-tense examples. Simply flip the flashcard.
See, the simple future tense is pretty simple when it’s broken down. If you want to learn more, we’ve got plenty of other learning tools for you to dig into!