Speaker 1: The future is here. Have you seen what's going on
with AI space travel and robotics when they start sending
humans to Mars, I'm definitely gonna go.
Speaker 2: Attention passengers, The next flight to planet Mars departs at
eight o'clock PM, and.
Speaker 1: Who knows, maybe I'll meet a Marshall.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you, Jan and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode seven seventy one.
The future is here. You've probably learned that to talk
about the future in English, you can use be, going
to or will. Like Jack and Jenny are going to
go to Montreal next week. I'm sure they will have
a good time. That's pretty basic English, right. Well, for
today's English lesson, let's have a look at the difference
between using be, going to and will, and also the
other ways we can talk about the future, like using
the simple present tense, the present, progressive tense, and modal verbs.
So the basic difference between using be, going to and
will is all about having set plans or not and
when you've decided to do something, you're gonna want to
use be going to, Like a friend of mine is
going to get married this weekend. Getting married is a
pretty set plan, isn't it. Are you going to go
to Jack's party on Saturday night? Here I am asking
you about your plans, and whether I'm talking about set
plans or asking about them, be going to is the
way to do it. And remember, in conversational American English,
we usually pronounce going to as gonna. I'm gonna go
to the party tomorrow, and Katie, yeah, she's gonna go
with me, And I'm guessing everyone from the office is
gonna go there too. Now, there are times when we
want to talk about the future, but we don't have
any set plans. Maybe we have some thoughts or ideas
about the future, but we haven't made any firm decison decisions,
like what should I do tomorrow? Well, maybe I will
clean the garage if it's not too cold out. It's
not a set plan, but I'm thinking about the possibility
of doing that. Maybe I will clean the garage. It's
pretty common to use maybe with will because that gives
us a clearer idea that we're talking about ideas in
the future, not plans like Eddie said that maybe he'll
move back to Las Vegas when he retires. So use
be going to or gonna when you have a plan,
and use will when you've just got an idea. And
will is a pretty interesting word too, because we also
use will when we make a decision at the moment
of speaking. Oh, I'll get it.
Speaker 2: Can somebody get me a drink? Please?
Speaker 1: Sure, I'll get that for you. You are listening to this
podcast right now, maybe you're driving somewhere, or you are
sitting on the sofa. This grammar of B plus I
is usually used when you talk about what you're doing
right now, But did you know that you can also
use this kind of grammar to talk about the future,
like I am working tomorrow, but after work, I am
hanging out with my friends at the bar. That's my plan.
And on Saturday, I'm having lunch with some of my
old friends from high school. Now, some set future plans
are from schedules, and when you talk about things like schedules,
scheduled events, and timetables, you can use the simple present tense.
This is handy when you talk about work like it's
a good thing. The bus leaves at seven point thirty
because work starts at eight thirty in the morning, or
the hotel told me that check in begins at two o'clock.
Last up for today are modal verbs like can, may,
and mite. These are used with base verbs to talk
about possibility in the future, like according to the weather report,
it may snow tomorrow. If it does, I just might
stay home and work remotely. I'll call the boss and
ask if I can do that. Can, may and might.
Now there's a future for you, And keep in mind.
The best way to remember grammar and vocabulary like this
and any other word or phrase in English is to
take that word or phrase, write it in a sentence
that's true for you or true in your world, and
then memorize your sentences and check this out. Do you
need more experience speaking English, Well, you can get the
chance to practice this kind of English with me directly.
That's right. You can get more practice using your English
when you join my podcast Learner's Study Group. There you
can make new friends, join us for live group lessons
every week where we practice these podcast lessons together. Plus
you get access to the PDF transcript and audio download
for every Happy English podcast in the past and in
the future. And on top of that, each episode has
exercises where you can practice this English point with speaking
and writing checked by me. To learn more, just visit
Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson seven seventy one. Remember,
learning another language is not easy, but it's not impossible,
and I'm here to help you on your journey.
Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please
visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy
English by leaving us a review. Get English, Get Happy,
Happy English.