Chloe and Michael are students at university in Manchester. They're talking about their plans for the weekend and the summer.
There are many ways to talk about the future in English.
| Future Form | Explanation |
|---|
| will + infinitive | used to talk about unplanned decisions, predictions, offers and promises |
| be + going to + infinitive | used to talk about plans |
| present continuous | used to talk about plans at a specific time |
| may / might | used to talk about possibilities |
| present simple | used only to talk about fixed (or timetabled) events |
| * I'll close the window because it's cold - here we use will because this is not a plan (you can't plan to close a window). |
| * I'm going to visit Greece in July - here we use going to because we assume this is a plan (you have thought about it, bought tickets, etc.). |
| * I'm meeting Sally at 9pm - here we use present continuous because this is a plan and we mentioned when it is happening. |
| * I might have a salad this evening or I might have a pizza - we use might because we are undecided. |
| * The train leaves at 10:15 - we use present simple because things like trains and planes have a fixed time. |