❌ STOP using the 'future tenses' in English - THIS is how we REALLY do it! (Full Grammar Lesson)

Hello, lovely students, and welcome back to English with Lucy.

You're probably a bit shocked by the title and the thumbnail.

What do you mean there's no future tense?

Why should I stop using it?

I'm going to talk about the future tense.

Are you intrigued?

Well, just saying the future tense is considered incorrect.

Why?

Well, because there's no such thing as

the future tense in English.

I know, mind blown.

If you look in most grammar books, you will likely see a section named something

like ‘talking about the future’ and not ‘future tenses.’

In fact, there are only two tenses in English, the present and the past.

These tenses are then further divided into aspects like continuous and perfect.

We tend to call each tense plus aspect, a tense.

For example, the present perfect tense or

the past continuous tense.

It's just simpler to think about them like this, and it's probably what you've

been taught at school and all through your English learning journey.

Anyway, back to the future.

A key feature in English  tenses is verb inflection.

In the present tense, for instance, we add -S to third-person singular verbs, and

in the past tense, regular verbs often get an -ED suffix.

For example, like, likes, liked.

However, the future differs from the

present and past tenses in a significant way.

We don't have a specific verb inflection

to indicate it.

So there's no future tense, technically,

but I think it's so much easier to think about the future as a tense in the same

way as you think of the present and past tenses.

So I'm taking a stand.

This video is about the future tenses, and I'm going to explain how you can use

them in English.

And as always, I have created a free PDF.

It's going to go through all of the future tenses.

Yes, tenses.

Starting with ‘will’ all the way down to

the future perfect continuous.

It's a really useful PDF to have.

I think it's going to help you a lot.

And I've also added a quiz at the end so

you can test your understanding.

Future you will thank you for downloading

the future PDF.

If you'd like to download that, all you

have to do is click on the link in the description box.

You enter your name and your email address.

You sign up to my mailing list and the

PDF will arrive directly in your inbox.

After that, you've joined my PDF club.

You will automatically receive my free PDFs each week alongside all of my news,

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It's a free service.

You can unsubscribe at any time.

Right.

Let's start with ‘will.’

Will is a very handsome man.

And ‘will’ is also a modal verb that can be used to talk about the future.

We use it in what we call the future simple, future continuous, future perfect

simple, and the future perfect continuous.

The future simple.

We have will + base verb.

We use the future simple to make predictions.

We also use it to talk about decisions made at the moment of speaking.

And we use it to make offers and promises.

It will be a wonderful party,

I just know it!

The dog's getting a bit boisterous.

I'll walk him.

The contraction there.

I will, I'll.

And I'll get you another size to try on.

Okay.

Let's move to the future continuous.

This is will + be + -ing verb.

We use the future continuous to talk

about temporary actions and events that will be in progress at a time later than now.

For example, this time tomorrow, we will be sitting down to dinner at my dream

restaurant, or I'll be walking to work tomorrow as my car is at the mechanic’s.

The future perfect simple.

Will + have + the past participle.

We use the future perfect simple to talk about events that will be finished at a

certain time later than now.

It's like we walk into the future and

then turn around and look back.

I don't normally show you the back of my head.

Do you want to know how I do this amazing knot?

Maybe I'll show you one day.

I have to do a lesson on hair.

By the way, we don't typically call this

a ‘knot.’

We call this a ‘bun.’

A knot is not something you want in your hair.

Some examples.

We will definitely have arrived by 7pm or they'll have already eaten before they

come round so we don't need to feed them.

And the future perfect continuous.

Will + have been + -ing verb.

We use the future perfect continuous to

emphasise the duration of an event that will be happening at a time later than now.

It's similar to the future perfect simple in that we look back from a time in the future.

Again, another opportunity to show my bun.

For example, in six months time, we will

have been working here for seven years or by this time next week, I will have been

travelling for four months.

A quick note about the future perfect

simple and continuous here.

With some verbs, you can use either tense

with no change in meaning.

One of those verbs is work.

Take a look.

In six months time, we will have worked

here for seven years.

In six months time, we will have been

working here for seven years.

They mean pretty much the same thing.

In the future perfect continuous, there is more of a feeling of emphasis on just

how long you've worked there, but you really can use either.

Other verbs like this include live, play and teach.

However, with lots of verbs like read, you can't use them interchangeably.

For example, by tomorrow night, I will have been reading this book for two months.

This means that you won't have finished the book and you simply cannot replace

‘will have been reading’ with ‘will have read.’

It's not an ongoing action.

If you did, the sentence would not be grammatically correct because ‘will have

read’ means you will be finished reading, but you're not.

Okay, those are your four future tenses.

Sorry, grammar police.

There are of course other ways to talk about the future apart from ‘will.’

We're going to look at them now using my wheel of fortune, or actually I should

call it my wheel of future.

As you can see, we have ‘will’ in one

corner, which I've already talked about.

Below that we have ‘to be going to’ and

the structure there is ‘be going to + base verb.’

We use ‘to be going to’ in two main ways, to make predictions based on present evidence.

For example, John is so drunk! He's going to have a terrible hangover tomorrow, or

to talk about plans and intentions.

I'm going to spend the day at home

tomorrow, just chilling.

When the verb in the infinitive is go, we

often shorten the sentence.

I'm going to go shopping later.

We should get rid of to go.

Now this looks like the present

continuous, which is actually the next tense on my wheel of future.

We use the present continuous to talk about plans and arrangements.

Yeah, plans again.

We're all making plans for the future.

There is often little difference between the present continuous and to be going to

when we're talking about plans.

However, when we use the present

continuous, we have made a firm decision to do something.

And what do I mean by a firm decision?

It usually means I know exactly what I'm

doing, where, when, and with whom.

Often, but not always, we have arranged

to do something.

Look at these examples.

I am having lunch with my friend Claire tomorrow.

That's an arrangement.

We're spending the summer on a yacht in Croatia.

Probably booked, but if not, very

definitely happening.

You could say, we're going to spend the

summer on a yacht in Croatia.

This is a plan, but it's less likely that

you've booked it.

It feels just slightly less certain than

when we use the present continuous.

We don't use the present continuous to

make predictions when an event is outside of our control.

The sky is so dark, it's going to rain in a few minutes.

We don't say ‘it's raining in a few minutes’ because the weather unfortunately

is not in my control or yours, but especially in British people's control.

It's just not.

We just have no control over the weather.

It is one of the worst things of living in Britain.

Every picnic ruined, every wedding.

Look how British I am.

Just talking about the weather.

By the way, I'm doing something very,

very British here, which is complaining about the weather.

And I've just said, it's not in my control yet.

Here I am again.

I let the weather ruin my summer this year.

It can't happen again.

Anyway, back to the lesson, back to the

present continuous.

We also don't use it to talk about

permanent situations in the future.

We are going to live in the countryside

for the rest of our lives.

We wouldn't say, ‘we are living in the

countryside for the rest of our lives.’

‘We are going to live.’

And finally, I want to talk about the present simple.

Another tense that rather confusingly, we use to talk about the future.

We use the present simple to talk about timetabled or scheduled events.

Our plane leaves at 2:10 tomorrow morning.

The exam finishes at seven, so pick me up then.

Right.

Those are the four future tenses and some

different ways we can talk about the future using other structures.

What do you think?

Do you find it easier to think of the

future as a tense?

Maybe you disagree with me and that's

absolutely fine.

I'm open to hearing your opinions.

Just leave them in the comments and everyone would just be nice to each

other, please.

Right.

Don't forget to download the PDF that goes with today's lesson.

The link is in the description box.

You can complete that quiz and see how

you do.

Also, if you're interested in really

improving your grammar, I have my three 12-week English programmes: level B1, B2,

and C1.

They're really awesome.

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In B2 and C1, we also cover conversation.

And in C1, we cover writing too.

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see if they're right for you, just visit englishwithlucy.com.

I will see you soon for another lesson.