This document discusses the use of be going to, present continuous, and will to talk about arrangements, future plans, predictions, and the differences between them. It provides examples of using each for arrangements ("Romy's having a Japanese lesson"), plans ("I'm going to be an astronaut"), and predictions ("It's going to be a sunny day"). Be going to is used for intentions and predictions based on evidence, present continuous for already arranged future events, and will for opinions about what may happen.

1. ARRANGEMENTS,
FUTURE PLANS AND
PREDICTIONS
Be going to, present continuous or
will?

2. Arrangements
What’s Romy doing on…..
•
Thursday?
Romy’s having a Japanese lesson at 7.
•
Friday?
Romy’s having lunch with Mr. Dickens at 1.
•
Saturday?
Romy’s playing tennis with Ted, Paul and
Lucy at half past three.
•
Sunday?
Romy’s flying to Paris at half past one.
•
Monday?
Romy’s staying in Paris.
•
Tuesday?
Romy’s flying back to London at a quarter to seven
in the morning.

3. We use present continuous to talk
about things that we have already
arranged to do (everything is planned):
On Thursday Romy’s having a Japanese
lesson at 7.
We usually give the time/ period or date.

4. Future plans and
intentions
“What are you going to do when
you are an adult?”
“I’m going to …… be an astronaut”
“I’m going to …… live in a castle”
“I’m going to …… be rich”
“I’m going to …… marry a princess”
“I’m going to …. have three children”

5. We use “be going to” to talk about our future plans.
We often use time expressions such as “tomorrow”,
“next week”, “next year”, … with “be going to”:
We are going to paint the living room tomorrow
Next week Mary is going to play tennis with me

6. What’s the difference?
“I’m going to get a job for this summer”
Use “Be going to” to talk
about things we plan to do but we
haven’t arranged yet (this is your
intention!)
“I’ve got a job! I’m starting tomorrow”
Use “present continuous” to talk
about future things we have
already arranged (everything is
prepared)

7. Predictions
“Look at this blue sky! …
It’s going to be a sunny
day”
A: Mary looks fatter
B: She’s going to have a
baby!

8. Use “Be going to” to make a prediction
based on some evidence (something
that you see or know):
“Fernando Alonso is going to win the
race!”
“This boy is going to fall down the tree!”

9. You can also use “will” to make predictions:
“I think Susan will get married soon”
“I don’t think Peter will pass his exam”

10. What’s the difference?
“I think Barça will win the Spanish league”
“Barça is going to win the match. They are playing much
better”
Use “will” to talk about what you think will
happen (this is your opinion) and “be going to” to
talk about something we are sure is going to
happen because you can see it now (based on
evidence)