Page 110 - Basic English Usage

137 -— 138 110

137 future: shall and will (interpersonal uses)

We can use shail and will to express our intentions and attitudes towards
other people.

Decisions
We use will at the moment of making a decision.
‘The phone's ringing.’ Vl answer it.’ (NOT targoing te-answer it)
‘I'm going out for a drink.’ ‘Wait a moment and I'll come with you.
(NOT ... teemewithyeu-)
We use shail to ask what decision we should make.
What shall! do? — Shall we tell her?

Threats and promises
Pil hit you if you do that again.
| promise | won’t smoke again. (NOT +premise+dernt ...)
Vil give you a teddy bear for your birthday.
Pl phone you tonight. (NOT #phene-yor ...)

Offers and requests
We use Shall/... ? when we offer to do things.
Shall I carry your bag?
We can use Will you ... ? to ask people to do things.
Will you get me a newspaper when you're out?

138 future: simple present

We can sometimes use the simple present to talk about the future.
This is common when we are talking about events which are ona
timetable, or something similar.
What time does the train arrive at Paddington?
When is the next bus for Warwick?
Are you on duty next weekend?
The summer term starts on April 10th.

The simple present is often used with a future meaning after
conjunctions. For details, see 343.
I'll phone you when | arrive.

In other cases, we usually use a different tense to talk about the future.
I’m seeing John tomorrow. (NOT +seevehrtomerrow-)
lll phone you this evening. (NOT + phene-yerthis-evening-)
For more information about the simple present, see 261.