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Future with Going to

1 min
A2
CEFR A2·tenses
Time frame
intended / planned
PastNowFuture

Formula

I / You / He / She / It / We / They
am / are / is
going to

Examples

Positive
We are going to visit Italy next summer.
Negative
It is not going to rain tomorrow.
Question
Are you going to invite Sarah to the party?

Common Time Markers

next week
tomorrow
tonight
later

Usage

  • •Plans and intentions for the future
  • •Predictions based on present evidence
  • •Actions definitely decided before speaking

More Examples

  • I'm going to study medicine.

    Something you really plan to do

  • Look at those clouds — it's going to rain.

    Guess about the future based on what you see

  • She's going to have a baby.

    Future event based on current evidence

  • Are you going to accept the job offer?

    Question about someone's plans

Common Mistakes

  • ✗❌ "I am going to to study" → ✓ "I am going to study" (no "to" before the infinitive again)
  • ✗❌ "She going to call you" → ✓ "She is going to call you" (must include am/is/are)
  • ✗❌ Using "going to" for on-the-spot decisions: "I'll get it!" (spontaneous) not "I'm going to get it"

Tips

  • ✓Use "going to" when you have already made the decision BEFORE speaking.
  • ✓For predictions with visible evidence, "going to" (not "will") is more natural.

Advanced Notes

In fast spoken English, "going to" almost always contracts to "gonna" — learners need to recognise this for listening even if they avoid it in production. The evidence-based prediction use is a key differentiator from "will": "Look at him — he's going to fall" (you can see it happening) vs "I think it will rain" (general opinion). "Going to" is also the natural choice when something is clearly inevitable: "This is going to hurt."

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Compare With

Future with Will(A1)