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In this sentence "Look at the timetable. Hurry up! Flight 4026 takes off at 6:20." Can I replace "will take off" with "takes off"？

Kris
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April
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  • Yes. Positively. – anongoodnurse May 17 '14 at 03:44
  • They do not mean the same. The Simple Present Tense (Present Indefinite) is used for something that happens regularly/ usually/ normally -- Flight 4026 (generally) takes off at 6:20 . On the other hand, the formal future tense will+verb indicates a (definite) possibility in the future. – Kris May 17 '14 at 06:36
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    @Kris Are you saying that it would be incorrect to say The plane takes off at 6:20 in the case where that route and timing had never been flown before and will never be flown again by that plane ? – Frank May 17 '14 at 06:42
  • @Frank [ell.se] – Kris May 17 '14 at 06:45
  • It could be a lot easier for you if you think of English tenses as a two-tense system (past and non-past), and will as just a modal verb (to express a possibility in the future). For what it's worth, I agree with njboot's answer below. – Damkerng T. May 17 '14 at 10:27
  • @Kris I got an answer from ELL and for the benefit of the OP it appears that The plane takes off at 6:20 is OK whether or not it's a regular/usual/normal thing. Here's is the ELL question/answer – Frank May 17 '14 at 14:33

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Yes, you can. Both sentences are grammatically correct.

"Look at the timetable. Hurry up! Flight 4026 takes off at 6:20."

"Look at the timetable. Hurry up! Flight 4026 will take off at 6:20."

A third (and equally viable alternative):

"Look at the timetable. Hurry up! Flight 4026 is taking off at 6:20."

Pick whichever one sounds best, to you.

njboot
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