0

I need some clarification about the future using "will" and "be going to".

Please, describe which variant sounds as a plan, that I planned in advance and it will definitely happen.

  1. I'm going to move in America to permanent residence.
  2. I'll go to London in September.

As I understand, 1) is sounds like a plan for the future, that may be happen, but it's not clear yet. And the point 2) sounds like that will happen definitely.

Am I right? Thanks.

atereshkov
  • 109
  • 1
  • Does this help? https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/87900/going-to-vs-will – marcellothearcane Jul 29 '17 at 15:43
  • 1
    That's right. Will is for things that are scheduled or generally expected to happen in the future. Going to is for things that appear likely to happen, possibly soon. Note that Watch out! can be followed by That rock is going to fall! but not *That rock will fall! – John Lawler Jul 29 '17 at 15:45
  • @marcellothearcane I'll look into it right now, thanks a lot. – atereshkov Jul 29 '17 at 15:49
  • @JohnLawler huh, as I understand it, this case is used when you are sure that something will happen based on the situation that is going right now, isn't it? – atereshkov Jul 29 '17 at 15:53
  • 1
    In your example there's pretty much no difference. – marcellothearcane Jul 29 '17 at 16:00
  • @JohnLawler Really? the only difference I understand is that 'will' is more formal and less common, no sense of likelihood. – Mitch Jul 29 '17 at 16:09
  • I'd only expect 'I'll go to London in September.' as a statement of resolve or a decision actually being made at this moment. To express modality (here, belief in a high probability), I'd use 'I'm definitely going to move to America to live there.' – Edwin Ashworth Jul 29 '17 at 16:52
  • What I described above is American usage, btw. The examples are from Bob Binnick's 1971 paper in CLS 7. There has been lots of work since; here's a bibliography. – John Lawler Jul 29 '17 at 17:34

0 Answers0