How to Use the Future Simple Tense in English

Let’s look at how to use it step-by-step.

Future Simple tense examples:

You form such sentences with   will , or   shall + the verb in infinitive form. Such Future Simple rules are easy, and you can tell someone about the future. 

Shall is a modal verb; you can use it to speak more formally or officially with I and We. For example, if you talk to a person you don’t know, saying:

Here, you can see examples of sentences with different subjects and forms:

Simple Future tense describes what will be in the future, situations that will happen, your promises, and other similar cases. With the word “Simple” in its name, it means there are no hard and confusing moments.

Some of the Future Simple examples are:

Tense markers of Future Simple:

Here, we prepared a few Future Simple sentences that you can hear every day in conversations about work, travel, plans, money, music, or else:

Simple Future form is clear to learn, but it has a few moments to review. We will make everything easy by looking at questions and negative sentences and will vs. be going to.

Negative form

For negative sentences, you just add a function word not after will. Here’s the formula: 

The Future Simple structure for this case looks like this in daily conversations:

Future Simple questions

To form a question with Future Simple rules you place will on the beginning, add a subject and verb infinitive. 

Yes/No questions

Let’s see how it works in conversations: 

Wh-questions

Here are some more sentences for you to practice such questions:

Be going to vs. Will

The difference between these forms is in the situations you are talking about.

Will is used when you want to speak about actions in the future you didn’t plan or expect, some predictions, and unforeseen moments.

Be going to is used for plans which 100% are going to happen. 

Here are Future Simple practice sentences:

Here’s a table that showcases differences between will and be going to Simple Future tense examples:

The Future Simple tense is a great and correct way to describe actions you plan to do, some ideas and suggestions, and it’s easy to learn. In this part, you will learn some mistakes people usually make to prevent them from being made in daily speech. Here is the Future Simple example and explanation.

Using will instead of Present Simple

Sometimes, people can use Future Simple for habits, things you do regularly, and facts, which is wrong:

Mixing will and be going to

Both of them are used to talk about the future but in different contexts. They have similar meaning but different usage.

Will tells us that the decision or action is made at the moment of speaking. Be going to is used when you are talking about planned actions.

Adding to after will

We don’t place to after will and before the base verb unlike in structures for other verb forms.

You know all the Future Simple rules and can make a mistake-free and native conversation about things that will happen in the future, your promises, ideas, considerations, and predictions. Keep practicing, and you will understand it’s easier than ever!