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Means of Expressing Futurity

The document discusses various ways to express futurity in English. It notes that English does not have a distinct future tense form for verbs, but rather uses structures like "will" or "be going to" followed by the base verb form. It outlines the forms and uses of the future simple, future continuous, future perfect, and future perfect continuous. Additionally, it discusses expressing futurity using "be going to", "be to", "be about to", the present tense, and the past tense.

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141 views10 pages

Means of Expressing Futurity

The document discusses various ways to express futurity in English. It notes that English does not have a distinct future tense form for verbs, but rather uses structures like "will" or "be going to" followed by the base verb form. It outlines the forms and uses of the future simple, future continuous, future perfect, and future perfect continuous. Additionally, it discusses expressing futurity using "be going to", "be to", "be about to", the present tense, and the past tense.

Uploaded by

Pereteanu Elena
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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MEANS OF EXPRESSING

FUTURITY
Observations of the Future Tense
Time is not quite the same as grammatical tense, and with that thought in mind, many
contemporary linguists insist that properly speaking, the English language has no future tense.
• "[M]orphologically English has no future form of the verb, in addition, to present and past forms.
. . . In this grammar, then, we do not talk about the future as a formal category . . .." (Randolph
Quirk et al., A Grammar of Contemporary English. Longman, 1985)
• "[W]e do not recognize a future tense for English. . . . [T]here is no grammatical category that
can properly be analyzed as a future tense. More particularly, we argue that will (and likewise shall)
is an auxiliary of mood, not tense." (Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, The Cambridge
Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge University Press, 2002)
• "There is no future tense ending for English verbs as there is in other languages . . .." (Ronald
Carter and Michael McCarthy, Cambridge Grammar of English. Cambridge University Press, 2006)
• "English has no future tense, because it has no future tense inflections, in the way that many
other languages do, nor any other grammatical form or combination of forms that can exclusively be
called a future tense." (Bas Aarts, Oxford Modern English Grammar. Oxford University Press, 2011)
Although English has no future tense in the strict sense (i.e., it has no verb form specific to future
meaning), we commonly refer to several structures that are used for future meaning as belonging to
the “future tense.”
There are a number of different ways of referring to the future in English. It is important to
remember that we are expressing more than simply the time of the action or event.
The forms that we choose depend on how we see the future event. The grammatical form that we
use depends on things like our mood, how we feel about the future event, how objective or
subjective or neutral we want to be, and on factors such as our sense of obligation, hope and
certainty.

Although English has no future tense in the strict sense (i.e., it has no verb form specific to future
meaning), we commonly refer to several structures that are used for future meaning as belonging
to the “future tense.” The most common of these structures begin with will or a form of the verb
be + going to.

While these verb markers tell us that the action takes place in the future, it is the aspect of the
verb that tells us how the event will be temporally structured. The combination of the future
marker and the aspect results in the verb structures that we usually call the future simple, the
future continuous (or future progressive), the future perfect, and the future perfect continuous.

Although we find it extremely difficult to drop the notion of "future tense" from our mental
vocabulary, we can say that there are several ways of expressing future time in English.
Future Simple
Form: the auxiliaries shall/will + the short infinitive of the main verb. Shall is used in the 1st
pers. sg/pl. (formal British English; in informal contexts, in American English it is replaced by
will). Will is used in the 2nd and 3rd pers. sg/pl.
Uses and values: The Future Simple is used to denote actions to be performed in the future
(i.e. after the present moment. Thus, the Future Simple is used for announcements of future
plans, predictions about the future): I shall/will be 20 next week. (Formal/colloquial English).
Time expressions: tomorrow, next week/month, in the future, in 2 years
1.To make a prediction about the future: She will be happy with the new car you bought
2. When we state a fact about the future: The sun will rise at 5:45 am tomorrow
3.To express a belief we have about the future: I think John Smith will win the election
4. To express what you want or are willing to do: I hope you will come to dinner tomorrow
5. To express an action that will happen at a certain time: My husband will work till 8:00 pm
tonight
Shall and will acquire modal value in some special constructions (interrogative,
negative). Thus, Shall acquires special values:

a) in the 1st pers. sg/pl. interrogative sentences:


- request for advice or suggestion: Where shall I put the books?
- making an offer: Shall I open the door?
b) in the 2nd and 3rd pers. sg/pl. shall expresses:
- the speaker’s intention to perform a certain action: They shall have my support.
- command, formal instruction: Each competitor shall wear a number.

Will expresses modal values:


a) in the 1st pers. sg/pl. will expresses unpremeditated intention, immediate decision:
‘Can somebody help me?’ ‘I will.’
b) in the 2nd, 3rd pers. sg/pl/, interrogative sentences will expresses willingness,
request, invitation: Will you do me a favour?
c) in negative sentences will expresses absence of willingness, i.e. refusal: I won’t see
him again.
Future Continuous

Form: It is formed of the Future Simple of the auxiliary be + the Present


Participle of the main verb: I shall/will be working
Uses and values:
a) It denotes an action in progress at a given time in the future:
This time next year she’ll be running her own business.
I'll be working at eight o'clock. Can you come later?
They'll be waiting for you when you arrive.
b) An action or event that is a matter of routine:
You'll be seeing John in the office tomorrow, won't you?
Future Perfect Simple
Form: It consists of the Future Tense of the auxiliary have + the Past Participle of the main
verb: I shall/will have worked
Uses and values:
a) It expresses an action completed before a future moment. The future moment may be
indicated by means of:
- an adverbial phrase introduced by the prepositions by, before, in;
They will have immigrated to Canada by Christmas.
She will have eaten before she arrives
- a subordinate clause of time introduced by the conjunctions before, when, by the time:
By the time we get there, the film will have started.
When the mountaineers get back to the base, they'll have been in the snowstorm for two
days
How long will she have worked here by the end of this year?
b) It expresses supposition about an action performed at a previous moment:
No doubt you will have heard of this writer
Future Perfect Continuous
Form: It consists of the Future Perfect of the auxiliary be + the Present Participle of the
main verb: I shall/will have been working.
Uses and values:
It expresses an action begun before a given future moment and still going on at that future
moment. The given future moment can be expressed by:
- an adverbial phrase introduced by next, by:
By his sixtieth birthday he will have been teaching for 35 years.
- a subordinate clause of time (with the verb in the Present Tense):
When Mr. Brown retires he will have been working in the same office for 45 years.
We will have been waiting for a long time when the bus finally comes.
My little sister will have been sitting quietly for an hour when the movie finishes.
I will have been cleaning all day when you arrive, so I’ll be too tired to go out.
Other means of expressing futurity
(Future Time)
Be going to
The going to – construction has two values:
- The subject’s intention (plan, decision) to perform a certain future action: ‘What are you
going to do tonight?’ ‘I’m going to stay at home’.
- Prediction (the speaker’s feeling of certainty, strong probability, and likelihood): Those
dark clouds mean it’s going to rain.

Be to + infinitive expresses the following meanings:


- an arrangement which has been planned for the future: The meeting is to begin at 8
o’clock.
- an order, instruction, command, usually an indirect one: You are to be back by 10
o’clock.

Be about to + infinitive expresses an immediate future action whose fulfilment is


imminent: Hurry up! The train is (just) about to leave.
Present Simple (with future meaning): an official plan or arrangement regarded as
unalterable: The play begins at 7 o’clock this evening.

Present Continuous (with future meaning): a future event anticipated by virtue of a


personal present plan, programme or arrangement (fixed arrangements in the near
future): She’s meeting her aunt this weekend.

Future- in -the Past Simple

Form: should/would + The Short Infinitive of the main verb

The Future in the Past is used in reporting the past words or thoughts of someone.
‘I shall see you tomorrow’ →I told him I should see him the next day.

Future- in -the Past Continuous

Form: should/would + be + The Present Participle of the main verb

‘I'll be working at eight o'clock’ →I told him I would be working at eight o'clock.

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