This month¡¯s topic is one that every English teacher has had to deal with at some point. English only has two real ¡°tenses¡± - the past and the present. The future isn¡¯t formed with a verb; it¡¯s formed with special forms and extra words, so it¡¯s not truly a tense. However, in most English textbooks, you can find the idea that in English, ¡°will¡± means ¡°future¡±. It¡¯s not true! This is one of the most common mistakes in conversational English. Let¡¯s see why. The idea of the ¡°future¡± is much more complicated than simply ¡°later than now¡±. Rather, it can express lots of different attitudes about the event in the future. There are four common ways of talking about future events, and ¡°will¡± can only be used with three of them. Let¡¯s take a look. If Korea is playing Japan in soccer tomorrow, I can talk about possibilities for the result. I can say ¡°Korea will beat Japan tomorrow probably¡±. In this case, I use will because I¡¯m talking about a possibility. ¡°Will¡± can mean a possibility. If I go to a fortune teller or tarot card reader, they can make a prediction about my life in the future. They look in their crystal ball and can say ¡°Oh David! You will have ten children!¡± Whoa, I should start saving my money! ¡°Will¡± can also mean a prediction. Next, imagine I have a lot of luggage and I need to go across town to the bus station. Unfortunately, I have no money, and no car. I explain this problem to my friend and he says, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take you!¡± Here my friend has given me an instant promise. He will solve my problem. ¡°Will¡± can also mean a promise. But imagine our last attitude about the future. Your English teacher asks you about your plans for the weekend. I cannot say ¡°I will see a movie.¡± That¡¯s because will does not mean a plan. A plan is different from possibility, prediction, or promise because in some way I have already started the process of the action. Instead, I use a different form of the verb ? the present continuous. I can say ¡°I¡¯m seeing a movie¡±. So remember, ¡°will¡± is a very useful word if you are talking about possibilities, predictions, or promises, but don¡¯t use it if you are discussing your plans.
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