I Swear English › Verb Tenses › The Future with 'Going To'
How to form the the future with 'going to'
How To Form The Future With Going To:
For positive statements take a subject (I, my friend, the cars...) after this use the auxiliary verb to be in the appropriate form of the present simple (I am..., my friend is..., the cars are...) then we put going (I am going..., my friend is going...) then we put to (I am going to..., my friend is going to...) and finally we put the compliment of the verb we want to use. If we put this all together we have: I am going to laugh, my friend is going to smile, the cars are going to stop. To form negatives place not after the auxiliary verb to be (I am not going to laugh, my friend is not going to smile) To form questions change the position of the auxiliary verb to be with the subject. (Am I going to laugh? Is my friend going to smile? Are the cars going to stop?) We can then put a question word at the beginning of the sentence. Why am I going to laugh? For what reason is my friend going to smile? When are the cars going to stop? The table below sets out the form of the future simple with going to:
| Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
|---|---|---|
| I am going to record | I am not going to record | Am I going to record? |
| You are going to record | You are not going to record | Are you going to record? |
| He is going to record | He is not going to record | Is he going to record? |
| She is going to record | She is not going to record | Is she going to record? |
| It is going to record | It is not going to record | Is it going to record? |
| We are going to record | We are not going to record | Are we going to record? |
| You are going to record | You are not going to record | Are you going to record? |
| They are going to record | They are not going to record | Are they going to record? |
The following video explains how to form the Future Simple with Going To:
When to use it
- Plans and intentions you have already decided. We're going to paint the kitchen this weekend.
- Predictions based on present evidence. Look — she's going to fall!
Signal words & time expressions: tomorrow, tonight, next month, this weekend, soon, in a minute
Watch the video lesson
Video transcript
Common mistakes to avoid
| Not quite… | Better |
|---|---|
| I | I'm going to call him. — don't forget the verb be (am / is / are). |
| We're going to | We're going to visit Rome. — going to is followed by the base verb. |
Frequently asked questions
‘Going to’ or present continuous for the future?
They often overlap. Going to stresses the intention; the present continuous stresses a fixed arrangement (time and place). Both are correct for future plans.
Can I say ‘going to go’?
Yes, it's correct (I'm going to go home), though many speakers simply say I'm going home.
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This lesson is part of our free English Verb Tenses course — work through it in order or jump to what you need next.