The Future with going to
The most used future form in English is to be going to + verb.
I‘m going to eat pizza tomorrow.
They‘re going to play tennis next Saturday.
Look at the construction:
Subject |
to be going to |
base form of verb |
|
We |
are going to |
have |
a party next week. |
She |
is going to |
visit |
her mother tonight. |
They |
are going to |
listen to |
some live music next Saturday. |
Note that going to has nothing to do with the verb to go, it is simply the future form of the verb which follows it.
As always with the verb to be, when we make a question we invert the verb to be and the subject.
You are going to watch television tonight. (affirmation).
Are you going to watch television tonight (question).
It’s the same rule when we add a question word:
What time are you going to watch television?
When are they going to meet us?
How are you going to travel to Scotland?
When we use the verbs to go or to come, we generally don’t use going to before the main verb:
I’m going to school early tomorrow.
What time are you coming here?
If you use going to for the future in English, it is usually okay. Try to avoid will as much as possible- it is one of the most over-used words used by non-native speakers.