Uses of will

What would you like to eat?

Of course we use will in English but not as often as you might think. Here is when we use it:

To make an immediate decision

What would you like to eat?
I‘ll have a ham sandwich please.

To make an offer

You see that someone needs your help and so you offer to help him:

I‘ll carry that for you.
I‘ll lend you 10 euros.
I‘ll help you.

To make a promise

I‘ll pay you back tomorrow.
I‘ll call you tomorrow.
I‘ll write to you.

To make a prediction

Manchester Utd will win the Champions League.
It will be hot next summer.
Barack Obama will change America.

Be careful. If we make a prediction “using our mind”, that is thinking about what will happen at some point in the future, we use will. If we make a prediction “using our senses “, that is with our eyes, ears, nose, mouth or by touching, we have to use to be going to:

Look at those clouds! It‘s going to rain.
Look at that man. He’s so drunk he‘s going to fall.

In the first conditional

If it’s hot tomorrow, I‘ll go to the beach.

In the future continuous

I‘ll be sleeping at midnight tonight.

In the future perfect simple

I‘ll have been to China by 2020.

In the future perfect continuous

I‘ll have been living here for 10 years by December.

The most common future form in English is to be going to.

See also: