If you’re learning English as an additional language one of the first and most important things you need to learn is how to talk about ideas that happened in the past, things that happen in the present, and things that will happen in the future. English has different tenses you can use to express the future. In this article, we’ll understand how to express ideas in the future simple with will. The future simple with will can be used informally to refer to future events that were not previously planned (decisions made at the moment) or formally to events that were both planned and unplanned.
In case you need to remember all of these tenses, check out this amazing overview of all verb tenses in English!
Future Simple (or Simple Future) in English
The future simple (or simple future) in English is used to talk about events that will happen in the future. These may be planned, or unplanned events.
| PAST | PRESENT (NOW) | FUTURE |
| – | – | will do |
| – | – | will play |
| – | – | will watch |
| – | – | will meet |
| – | – | will work |
How to Form the Future Simple
This tense is formed using will plus the base form (or root form) of the verb. This formula works for all grammatical persons. So, differently from the present simple, you don’t need to add an -s to the verb for the third-person singular (he/she/it).
Affirmative, Negative, and Interrogative (Question) Forms
To form an affirmative sentence in this tense, you use the structure subject + will + base form of the verb + object.
To form a negative sentence in this tense, you use the structure subject + will not (won’t) + base form of the verb + object.
To form an interrogative sentence (question) in this tense, use the structure: Will+ subject + base form of the verb + object + question mark (?).
| AFFIRMATIVE | NEGATIVE | INTERROGATIVE (QUESTION) |
| I will work tomorrow | I won’t work tomorrow | Will I work tomorrow? |
| You will do the homework | You won’t do the homework | Will you do the homework? |
| He/she/it will play with his/her/its brother | He/she/it won’t play with his/her/its brother | Will he/she/it play with his/her/its brother? |
| We will meet at the park | We won’t meet at the park | Will we meet at the park? |
| They will watch a movie | They won’t watch a movie | Will they watch a movie? |
Contraction with the Future Simple
We can contract the subject pronouns and will. This often happens in informal, oral communication:
| PERSONAL PRONOUN | POSITIVE CONTRACTION | NEGATIVE CONTRACTION |
| I will | I’ll | I won’t |
| you will | you’ll | you won’t |
| he will | he’ll | he won’t |
| she will | she’ll | she won’t |
| it will | it’ll | it won’t |
| we will | we’ll | we won’t |
| they will | they’ll | they won’t |
Short answers
To answer these questions you can use short answers.
| QUESTION | AFFIRMATIVE ANSWER | NEGATIVE ANSWER |
| Will I…? | Yes, I will/Yes, you will. | No, I won’t/No, you won’t. |
| Will you…? | Yes, I will/Yes, we will. | No, I won’t/No, we won’t. |
| Will he/she/it…? | Yes, he/she/it will. | No, he/she/it won’t. |
| Will we…? | Yes, we will. | No, we won’t. |
| Will they…? | Yes, they will. | No, they won’t. |
Uncertainty or Predictions
This tense is often used when we are not certain that something will happen in the future or when we predict something will or will not happen. To express this uncertainty we can use expressions such as I (don’t) think, I (don’t) believe, I (don’t) suppose, I (don’t) imagine, probably, perhaps, etc. Take a look at some examples.
| I think I’ll work next Saturday. |
| I don’t believe they’ll travel on the holiday. |
| I suppose they’ll call me on the weekend. |
| I don’t think he’ll come over. |
| Perhaps she’ll talk to you about it. |
WH question words
If you have a WH question word in your interrogative sentence (question), put it at the beginning of the sentence.
| When will I work? |
| What will you do? |
| Who will he/she/it play with? |
| Where will we meet? |
| What will they watch? |
Adverbs of Frequency
When adverbs of frequency are used with the future simple, they usually go between the subject pronoun and the verb. Look at the examples below.
| I will always go to work by bus. |
| You will often play tennis. |
| He will sometimes watch Netflix in the evening. |
| We will hardly ever listen to podcasts. |
| They will never make mistakes. |
Time Expressions
The future simple (or simple future) tense can be used with or without time expressions that refer to the future.
Time expressions are phrases such as tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, etc. They identify the time you’re talking about. These expressions usually go at the end of the sentence (I will work tomorrow).
Example Sentences
| Boris Johnson sang ‘I Will Survive’ to new communications chief Guto Harri (BBC) |
| Why the Metaverse Will Change the Way You Work (The Wall Street Journal) |
| The Democrats will not save you (Aljazeera) |
| Biden Will Press German Chancellor on Russia Sanctions and Pipeline (The New York Times) |
| China’s zero-Covid strategy ‘won’t work’ against omicron, says U.S. epidemiologist (CNBC) |
| The Galaxy S22 will use plastic from recycled fishing nets (The Verge) |
| Iran nuclear talks will resume on Tuesday, EU confirms (Reuters) |
| When will people get booster shots? (The Kathmandu Post) |
| Why Are Oil Prices So High and Will They Stay That Way? (The New York Times) |
| Free Community College Won’t Be in Spending Bill, Jill Biden to Say (The New York Times) |
If you want to master every aspect of English grammar, take a look at our awesome article on the best books to learn English grammar.
