The English language has three future tense forms.
One of them is not inflected!
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OK! But What does that mean? |
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The tense of verbs in many languages is indicated by final endings, or grammatical suffixes. These endings tell us if the verb tense is past, present, or future. |
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These endings also indicate person (I, you (singular,) he, she, we, you (plural,) and they.) In some languages, the endings may also indicate gender. The endings change with the subject to indicate masculine, feminine, or neutral. |
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This may be confusing, especially if English is your first language. The good news is that English is a relatively simple language because it is not highly inflected! Now, exactly how does English indicate the future tense? What is not inflected? |
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The answer is simple: there are three different ways that English speakers may express the future. Study the chart below: |
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The future tense can be formed with the modals "will" or "shall" and the basic form of the main verb. They may all be contracted to " -'ll." This form of the future is not inflected. |
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John will finish writing his English paper tonight. |
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Sarah will attend Harvard University next year. |
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I shall never shop at that store again! |
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How will you solve the problem? |
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The baby will go to sleep soon. |
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| The future
tense can be formed with the present tense of "be," the present
participle, "going," and the infinitive from of the main
verb.
The verb "be" is inflected. |
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Maria is going to take dancing lessons this winter. |
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We are going to ride the subway to work this morning. |
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Is Bob going to travel to Ireland this summer? |
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Why are you going to travel to Ireland in the winter? |
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The future tense can be formed by using the simple present tense of the main verb, and an adverbial that expresses future time. The third person singular is inflected. |
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Sarah and Beth go to New York on Friday. |
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Next year, I travel to Scotland. |
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The patient meets with the doctor next Monday. |
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Classes end May twenty-eighth. |