READER 6 WORKSHEET 5

Name: _____________________________________ Date: ___________________________

In modern English we don’t have the future tense. We have just two tenses—the present and the past. However,
we use the following verb forms to express future time.

i. will/shall ‐ I will think about your plan.

ii. be going to ‐ I am going to meet my friend tonight.

iii. present progressive ‐ I am flying to Paris tomorrow.

iv. simple present ‐ The school closes for the summer vacation next week.

A. Shall is used with I and we only in formal English, otherwise we normally use will for intention,
determination and opinion of the speaker. Shall/will are contracted to ’ll.

1. I’ll leave this school next year. (intention*/automatic action**)

(* intention—when you intend to change the school; ** automatic action—when the school
doesn’t have the facility for further studies)
2. We’ll win the match. (determination)
3. He’ll wait for you. (opinion)
Will is also used for future habitual actions.
4. Leaves will fall in autumn.
5. Rivers will flow down into the ocean.
The negative form of will is will not or won’t.

Exercise – 1
Complete the conversations with the help of the clues. Use will or won’t.

1. Mala: I may be late by ten minutes.

Radha: Don’t worry. I’ll wait for you. (wait)

2. Mala: Why is your room still so untidy?

Mukesh: Sorry, Mala; I ________________________ soon. (clean up)

3. Sudheer: It’s 8 o’clock already! Hurry up, or you’ll miss the bus.
Sarita: Don’t worry! I’m ready and ___________________ the bus. (not miss)

4. Pradeep: Suneet hasn’t come yet.

Puja: He might have got stuck in traffic. But, he ___________________ (be/here/on time)

 
 

B. A few more uses of will

i. Habit
a. Mothers will feed their babies.
b. Indians will welcome guests as god.
c. A child will seek love from parents.
ii. Obstinacy
I have warned him many a time, but he will come late.
(While speaking the stress should be on will / won’t.)
iii. Instant decision
a. Sudha: There is no sugar in the kitchen.
Sunil: I’ll buy some.
b. Sudha: Someone is knocking at the door.
Sunil: I’ll open it.

Exercise – 2
Complete the following conversations using the hints.

1. Sheela : I don’t know how to go to the station.

Suresh : Don’t worry. _________________________ (I / drive / you)
2. Poonam : Your father phoned me to inform you that he wanted you immediately in Mumbai.Prateek :
________________________________ (I / fly / Mumbai / tonight)
3. Kiran : Your dog is not well and he is standing outside in the cold. Why don’t you ask him to come in?
Kanta : I have told him several times but ___________________________ (he / not / listen / me)

C. Be going to

The be going to form, like will, is also used to express intention, and most often either can be used. The
main difference between be going to and will is that the be going to form is used for an intention which is
clearly premeditated. But in most of the cases it is not very clear whether the action is premeditated or
unpremeditated. In such cases we can use either will or be going to.
1. I will / am going to help him.
2. I won’t / am not going to take a risk.
Be going to is also used for prediction, e.g. It is going to rain.

Exercise – 3
Fill in the blanks with the be going to form of the verbs in brackets.

1. Reeta : Why are you carrying this towel with you?

Ritesh : I am going to take (I / take) a bath.

2. Nidhi : What did you decide at the Nature Club meeting yesterday, Ritika?
Ritika : We _______________________ (not use / plastic bags / anymore)

3. Mohan : What are you going to do with the rope?

Manoj : _________________________________ (I / tie / cow / post)

 
 

3. Piyush : What are your plans after school?

Pratibha : _____________________________ (I / be / animator )

4. Hari : Look at the dark clouds in the sky.

Hemant : I think ____________________________________ (it / rain)

D. The simple present and the present progressive for future

Both these tenses are used for a fixed future plan. The simple present is used in newspaper headlines,
captions, advertisements etc. The present progressive tense is most commonly used for arranged future
plans.
i. I am leaving tonight.
ii. He is selling his house next week.
iii. She is arriving tomorrow.

Exercise – 4
Use will, be going to or the present progressive to complete the following sentences. More than one
option is also possible.

1. We ______________________________ (plant / some trees) next Sunday.

2. I ______________________________ (meet / my friends) tomorrow.

3. The number of tourists ______________________________ (decline) in June.

4. She ______________________________ (enter) college next month.

5. The sun ______________________________ (dip) below the horizon in ten minutes.

Teacher's Comments ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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