Stop Saying Will (It's Overused) - Say This Instead to Speak English Accurately

(upbeat dance music)

- This is Jack from tofluency.com.

And today we are going to look at a word

which is often overused by English language learners.

And what we're going to do today

is talk about the situations in which, I feel,

too many learners use this term,

and what to say instead.

The structure here is, will.

I will, she will, he will, I'll, she'll, he'll, etc.

Will is often known as the future simple,

but it's actually a modal verb.

And I think this labeling makes learners overuse this word.

So they think about the future,

and they think, okay, the future simple.

I'm going to use the future simple

to talk about the future.

But there are two much better alternatives

to be used in the situations

we're going to discuss in this video.

So by the end of the lesson,

you're going to have a clear understanding

on these structures.

Also, when to use will.

And I'm going to test your knowledge too.

So we'll have three questions for you later on

to test your knowledge of this subject.

And before we get started,

it's okay if you make mistakes in English.

It's okay if you sometimes overuse words.

But this video is really going to help you

with your accuracy.

And also know that talking about the future

is difficult in English.

A lot of learners find this hard to do,

and this lesson is going to help you with that.

So to help me explain this,

let's think about an imaginary situation.

Let's say that you are currently in a business meeting

in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

And Atlanta is a fantastic city to visit, by the way.

But let's say you're in a business meeting

and you're meeting some suppliers.

They are trying to sell you their paper

for your paper company in Europe.

And at the end of the meeting, they ask you,

"What are your plans for the rest of your time

"here in Atlanta?"

You have plans to visit the World of Coke.

You have plans to go shopping.

And you also have tickets to watch

the Atlanta United soccer team.

So with that in mind, think about

how you should respond here.

I'll just leave this on your screen now,

and just take a few seconds to construct some sentences.

A lot of learners will say things like,

"Tonight I will go to the World of Coke.

"Tomorrow we'll do some shopping.

"And then later on we'll watch the soccer game."

But when talking about your plans for the future,

use these two forms instead.

Be going to, and also, the present continuous.

Now, these two structures can be quite flexible,

but there are some small differences,

and you're going to see those now.

Here are some good example sentences.

Tonight we're going to the World of Coke.

Tonight we're going to the World of Coke.

Tomorrow, we're going to do a bit of shopping.

We're going to do a bit of shopping.

And then later, we're watching the Atlanta United game.

We're watching the Atlanta United game.

So the first example.

We're going to the World of Coke.

Tonight, we're going to the World of Coke.

So we use the present continuous

to talk about future arrangements,

or very specific plans that we have.

We have a time to go to the World of Coke at eight o'clock,

so we're going to the World of Coke at eight.

Tonight, we're going to the World of Coke.

The second sentence uses, be going to.

Tomorrow, we're going to do a bit of shopping.

A bit of shopping.

That's a good collocation to know.

A bit of shopping.

And the be going to, plus infinitive,

is a really good structure to know,

because once you get the first part correct,

I'm going to, I was going to, we're going to,

you just add the infinitive.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to see him.

I'm going to play tomorrow.

Now, we use this for things like shopping

and exercise and housework.

Or when we have a plan to do something,

but we don't have a specific arrangement for that yet.

Here are three more examples.

I'm going to head to the gym later.

To head to the gym means to go to the gym.

We're going to spend all day cleaning tomorrow.

We're going to spend all day cleaning tomorrow.

Are you going to do that thing tomorrow?

Are you going to do that thing tomorrow?

And the third example from before,

we're going to the Atlanta United game tomorrow night,

or we're watching the Atlanta United game tomorrow night,

is using the present continuous,

because you have tickets to watch the game.

There is another way as well to talk about future plans

that not many people teach.

And it's simply to give a statement

using have or have got.

Instead of saying, "We're going,"

or, "We're watching the Atlanta United game tomorrow night,"

you can simply say, "Well, we have tickets

"for the Atlanta United game tomorrow night."

Here are other similar examples.

Don't forget that we have that meeting tomorrow.

Don't forget that we have that meeting tomorrow.

I have five classes at university later.

I have five classes at university later.

I've got a course next week that I need to take.

I've got a course next week that I need to take.

So when talking about plans and arrangements for the future,

use be going to, the present continuous,

and also other structures such as have, instead of will.

But the question you're probably asking yourself

and asking me is, "When do we use will?

"When do we use this term?

"When do we use this structure?"

Now, I've made a video on this,

and I'll leave a link to it in the description,

but we're just going to briefly explain this

before taking that quiz.

The first way is when you make a decision

about a future action while speaking

in the moment of having a conversation.

For example, if somebody says,

"Let's have a party tomorrow."

You can say, "Sure, I'll invite people at my work,

"and you do the same."

I will invite.

You made the decision to invite those people

during that conversation.

Or if your boss asks you,

"Who wants to take on this project?"

You can say, "I'll do it.

"I'll do it."

You can also use it for future facts too.

For example, "Paul won't be in the office tomorrow.

"Would Wednesday work instead?"

You can also use it as part of the first conditional too.

For example, "If it's really cold tomorrow,

"we won't go to that game."

Again, if you want to learn more

about how to use will, then click the link

in the description.

Okay, now it's time for the quiz.

What I'm going to do is put three sentences on your screen,

in order, and you have to complete the sentence

using either, be going to, the present continuous, or will.

Number one.

Someone asks you what you are doing later.

You have tickets to the theater.

Complete the sentence.

I, something, to the theater this evening.

(clock ticking)

I'm going to the theater this evening.

You have tickets, you have arrangements.

We use the present continuous.

I'm going to the theater this evening.

You can say, "I'm going to go to the theater this evening."

And that works, but it's better

to use a present continuous here.

Number two.

Someone asks you what you are doing later.

You have to do housework.

Complete the sentence.

I, something, do some housework.

(clock ticking)

I'm going to do some housework.

This is using be going to.

And again, we use this for activities such as housework.

And number three.

If it rains later, we, something, go.

And put this in the negative.

(clock ticket)

If it rains later, we won't go.

Or, if it rains later, we're not going to go.

Both of those are correct,

and we can use be going to or will

when using the first conditional.

Hopefully that wasn't too difficult,

that little mini quiz, but now I have something

that might be a little bit more challenging for you.

What I want you to do is to leave a comment below,

and just tell me what you're doing tomorrow.

It's quite simple, but think about

the different tenses you can use

and the different structures you can use

to be accurate when answering this question.

So, go into the YouTube comments,

and just type on your phone or on your computer,

and tell me what you are doing tomorrow.

And then subscribe to this channel if you are new.

Turn on the notification bell.

Like the video, and share the video as well.

It's quite a lot of things to do there,

but sharing this video will help me

reach more people, and it's also a good thing to do.

So click that Share button.

And while you're here, why not watch

another one of my lessons?

I'll leave a couple on your screen now.

Again, thank you so much for watching,

and I'll speak to you soon.

Bye-bye.

(upbeat dance music)