·Four ways of talking about the future
The future in English. Spanish has almost a single future for everything: lo haré, voy a hacerlo, lo hago mañana. English shares the work between several forms, and each one says something different about how you decided or how you know. We will look at will, going to and the present continuous, then the future continuous and the future perfect, the difference between have done and have been doing, and the time words that go with each tense. The rules are AptisBot's own criteria.
1/4Will, going to and present continuous
Three questions decide almost everything. Are you deciding now, as you speak? Will: the phone's ringing, I'll get it. Had you already planned it, or is there evidence that it is going to happen? Going to: I'm going to study medicine; look at those clouds, it's going to rain. Is it an arrangement already agreed, with a time and place? Present continuous: I'm meeting Ana at six. The present simple is kept for timetables: the film starts at nine. And a classic pitfall: after when, as soon as, before or until, the future goes in the present. I'll call you when I arrive, not when I will arrive.
2/4Future continuous and future perfect
Future continuous and future perfect. They look like two more ways of saying estaré and habré, but they are not. Future continuous: will be plus ing. You place yourself at a future moment and the action is in full progress: this time next week, I will be lying on a beach. Future perfect: will have plus participle. You place yourself at a future moment and the action is already complete: by Friday, I will have finished the project. Words that go with it: by, by then, by the time. And after by the time, the present: by the time you arrive, I will have left.
3/4Have done or have been doing
Present perfect simple or continuous. The working rule is a question: do you care about the result or the activity? Quantity, or something completed with a result: simple. I have read three chapters; I have finished the report. Activity and how long it lasts, or a visible trace, such as tiredness: continuous. I have been reading all afternoon; your eyes are red, have you been crying? With how many you think of quantity, simple. With how long you think of duration, continuous. And state verbs do not go in the continuous: I have known her for years, not I have been knowing.
4/4For, since, ago, already, yet, still and just
The time words, and the tense each one asks for. For, duration, how long: for five years. Since, starting point: since 2019. Ago, how long back something finished, with past simple: I moved here five years ago; never with have. Already, in affirmatives: I've already eaten. Yet, in negatives and questions, at the end: I haven't finished yet. Still, before the verb: she still lives with her parents. Just, a moment ago: we've just arrived. And for also goes with past simple, and then the action is over: I lived in Madrid for ten years.
·To practise
To practise, write four sentences of your own. One with will for a decision you make as you speak. One with going to and some evidence in front of you. One with will be doing to explain why you cannot do something at a specific moment. And another with by the time and will have done. Then check that none has will right after when, as soon as or by the time.