Future Simple tense with to be going to

1,850 fill-in-the-gap exercises across 4 forms

For plans you have already made and for predictions you can see coming. The form of be changes; going to never does.

They subject

are going to am / is / are + going to

sell plain verb

the cottage the rest of the sentence

Pick a form to practice

Positive Statements in Future Simple Tense with "to be going to" 450 sentences, 45 tests of ten Negative Statements in Future Simple Tense with "to be going to" 450 sentences, 45 tests of ten Questions in Future Simple Tense with "to be going to" 450 sentences, 45 tests of ten WH-Questions in Future Simple Tense with "to be going to" 500 sentences, 50 tests of ten

When you need it

Two jobs, and they feel quite different from each other:

An intention decided before now. We are going to repaint the kitchen. The decision already exists; you are reporting it.
A prediction with evidence in front of you. Look at the sky. It is going to rain. You are not guessing — you can see it coming.

going to or will

The difference is where the future comes from.

	going to	will
the decision	made before you spoke	made as you speak
the prediction	based on evidence	based on opinion

I*’m going to** call her tonight.* — it was on my list. The phone is ringing. I*’ll** get it.* — decided this second.

She*’s going to** have a baby.* — you can see it. I think she*’ll** be a good manager.* — you believe it.

In a great many sentences either works and nobody would notice. The one place the difference really bites is the on-the-spot decision, where going to sounds wrong.

And the Present Continuous

A past participle covers arrangements fixed with somebody else — a time agreed, a booking made:

We are meeting the architect on Tuesday.

So the three line up: will for the idea now, going to for the intention, the Present Continuous for the arrangement.

With verbs of movement, going to go and going to come are usually shortened to the Present Continuous anyway: We are going to Spain rather than we are going to go to Spain.

gonna

In speech going to very often reduces to gonna. It is normal in conversation and in song lyrics, and out of place in writing — including in a test.

All forms

Subject	Positive	Negative	Question
I	I am going to go	I'm not going to go	Am I going to go?
you, we, they	you are going to go	you aren't going to go	Are you going to go?
he, she, it	he is going to go	he isn't going to go	Is he going to go?

Mistakes to avoid

Wrong: She going to call you. correct: She is going to call you.

The form of be is part of the structure and cannot be dropped.

Wrong: I am going to buying a car. correct: I am going to buy a car.

After going to comes the plain verb.

Wrong: They are going to go to be late. correct: They are going to be late.

Going to is the structure; the verb that follows is the real verb.