Unit 5: Future time
Ngữ pháp Future time / present tenses in time clauses / prepositions of time and place
📘 Giải thích tiếng Việt
will/won't và be going to
Cả hai đều nói về tương lai, khác nhau chủ yếu ở sắc thái. will trang trọng hơn, dùng cho dự đoán không dựa trên bằng chứng hiện tại, quyết định ngay lúc nói, lời đề nghị/yêu cầu và câu điều kiện loại 1 (I'll help you.). be going to dùng cho kế hoạch/dự định đã có sẵn và dự đoán dựa trên bằng chứng trước mắt (It's going to rain.). Với đề nghị ở dạng câu hỏi dùng shall chứ không dùng will với I/we (Shall I help you?).
Present continuous và present simple chỉ tương lai
Present continuous diễn tả sắp xếp đã định trước (Are they installing the computers next week?). Present simple dùng cho lịch trình, sự kiện cố định không thể thay đổi (The bus leaves at 8.) và sau if trong câu điều kiện.
Các thì tương lai hoàn thành và tiếp diễn
Future perfect (will have + V3): hành động hoàn tất trước một mốc tương lai (I'll have finished by then.). Future continuous (will be + V-ing): hành động đang diễn ra tại một thời điểm tương lai (This time next week I'll be taking my exam.). Future perfect continuous (will have been + V-ing): nhấn mạnh khoảng thời gian kéo dài tới một mốc tương lai.
Các thì hiện tại trong mệnh đề thời gian
Sau when, as soon as, before, after, until/till, while, once, ta KHÔNG dùng will mà dùng thì hiện tại (present simple/continuous/perfect) để nói về tương lai. Ví dụ: Let me know as soon as your computer arrives.
Giới từ chỉ thời gian và nơi chốn
Ghi nhớ theo cụm: at (giờ, night, the weekend, the age of), on (thứ, ngày cụ thể), in (tháng, năm, mùa, buổi sáng/chiều/tối). Nơi chốn: arrive in London nhưng arrive at the stadium; in front of/behind, opposite, between. Lưu ý khác biệt Anh-Mỹ: người Mỹ hay bỏ on trước thứ và dùng Monday through Friday.
Theory
Expressing the future: will/won't and be going to
There is sometimes little difference in meaning between will and be going to. It is often just a matter of formality. Will is generally more formal than be going to.
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Facts about the future | The website will come online next week. (more formal) The website's going to come online next week. (more informal) |
| Predictions not based on present evidence | In the future, everyone will have their own flying car. In the future, everyone is going to have their own flying car. |
| Decisions made at the moment of speaking | I've decided! I won't get a new DVD player just yet. (emphasising the decision) I've decided! I'm not going to get a new DVD player just yet. (emphasising the intention) |
Sometimes it is more appropriate to use will rather than be going to:
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Offers and suggestions | I'll help you with your physics homework, if you like. |
| Requests | Will you help me with my physics homework? |
| Most first conditional sentences | If we get a computer, we'll be able to surf the Internet. |
✓ Shall I help you with your physics homework?
✗
Sometimes it is more appropriate to use be going to rather than will:
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Plans and intentions (which you already have when you speak) | I'm going to be a famous doctor one day! |
| Predictions based on present evidence | It sounds like the plane's going to take off in a few minutes. |
Expressing the future: present continuous
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Arrangements made before the moment of speaking | Are they installing the new computers next week? |
Expressing the future: present simple
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Timetables, arrangements and fixed events (which the speaker cannot change) | The bus to the science museum leaves at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. |
| After if in first conditional and zero conditional sentences | If technology continues to advance so quickly, what will life be like in a hundred years? |
| After certain time expressions | We'll find out as soon as we get to the lab. |
Expressing the future: future perfect simple
Form: will/won't + have + past participle
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Actions which are completed some time between now and a point in the future | I'll have finished my chemistry homework by the time you come home. |
Expressing the future: future continuous
Form: will/won't + be + -ing form
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Actions in progress at a point in the future | This time next week, I'll be taking my biology exam. |
| Habits or repeated actions at a point in the future | In the future, we'll all be flying around using jet-packs. |
Expressing the future: future perfect continuous
Form: will/won't + have + been + -ing form
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Actions in progress up to a point in the future | At seven o'clock, I'll have been doing my chemistry homework for three hours! |
Present tenses in time clauses
In time clauses, we do not use will or be going to immediately after some time words and phrases. We use a present tense (present simple, present continuous or present perfect) to talk about the future.
| Time words | Example |
|---|---|
| when | It'll be wonderful when scientists find / have found a cure for cancer. |
| as soon as | Let me know as soon as your new computer arrives / has arrived. |
| before | It'll be several years before we send / we've sent a manned mission to Mars. |
| after | Let's go for a pizza after we go / have been to the natural history museum. |
| until / till | The rocket won't be launched until they do / have done a final check. |
| while | Think of me while you travel / are travelling to the Moon! |
| once | We'll stop for petrol once we pass / we've passed Cambridge. |
Prepositions of time and place
| Key prepositions of time | (from) Monday to Friday, on Monday, on my birthday/Easter Sunday/etc, in July, on September 20th, in 2008, in (the) summer, at three o'clock, in/for an hour, at the moment, in the morning/afternoon/evening, at night, in/on time, just in time for, in the beginning/end, at the beginning/end of, at the age of, at the weekend, next/last week |
| Key prepositions of place | turn right at a place, sit on sth, go in(to) a building, wait in(side) a building, arrive in London/Greece, arrive at the stadium, in/on/at the corner (of), come/go/walk/etc to a place, next to/beside/by the building, at/on the front/back of, in front of/behind the station, go towards the station, between the two buildings, opposite the station, out of a building |
● Speakers of American English do not always use on before days of the week.
US: We've got a biology test Monday. UK: We've got a biology test on Monday.
● Speakers of American English often say 'Monday through Friday'.
US: I'm going to be on a field trip Monday through Friday.
UK: I'm going to be on a field trip from Monday to Friday.
Exercise A
If a word or phrase in bold is correct, write ✓ (or "correct"). If it is incorrect, rewrite it correctly on the line.
Exercise B
Circle the correct word or phrase. If both options are correct, circle both.
Exercise C
Write a word or short phrase in each gap.
At the end of this month, I'll (1) __________ working on my physics project for about six weeks, but I've still got a lot to do before I hand it in. I'll (2) __________ spending the whole day in the physics lab next Saturday doing experiments, and in fact, I (3) __________ playing football the weekend after either because I've got to go back to the lab then, too. I guess I'll (4) __________ doing lots of similar projects when I'm at university, so it's good practice. Thinking about it, when I leave university in about four years, I will (5) __________ studying physics for over thirteen years, so I should be quite good at it by then!
Exercise D
Complete using the future perfect simple or future perfect continuous of the verbs in brackets.
Exercise E
Complete each second sentence using the word given, so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence. Write between two and five words in each gap.
We'll have something to eat __________ home.
I'll tell you your results __________ marking the exams.
Remember to wear lots of sunscreen __________ across the Sahara next week!
They won't release the DVD __________ at the cinema.
At ten past ten tomorrow __________ my science exam.
Let's have supper __________ the space documentary.
By lunchtime, __________ all the invitations.
I won't give you a test __________ some revision.
We'll have moved into our new house __________ you visit us.
Let's make a decision __________ got some more information.
Exercise F
Read the information and write a question for each answer given.
8.15 am arrive Penzance
9.15 am ferry (Scillonian III) departs
12.00 noon arrive St Mary's
12–1.30 pm walk round the town
1.30–2.30 pm picnic lunch (on Garrison overlooking harbour)
2.30–4 pm swimming or boat trip round island
4.30 pm ferry (Scillonian III) departs
7.15 pm arrive Penzance
7.30 pm coach departs
10.15 pm arrive Plymouth Bretonside Bus Station
Exercise G
Write on, in or at in each gap.
Blank (i):
Exercise H
Each of the words in bold is incorrect. Rewrite them correctly.
Exercise I
Write one word in each gap.
Defining the Age
Ages, eras and wars will always be defined (1) __________ they are over, or at least well after they (2) __________ started. (3) __________ the year 1914, for example, no one said: 'Tomorrow I'm going (4) __________ go and fight in the First World War.' Why not? Because it wasn't generally called the First World War until the Second World War had started. Similarly, no one ever said: 'Next year (5) __________ be the start of the Industrial Revolution.' The era now known as the Industrial Revolution only started being called that once it was well under way.
(6) __________ the time we are old, we will all (7) __________ experienced enormous technological advances. We might even (8) __________ walking round with computer chips implanted in our bodies, or perhaps computer chip technology will have (9) __________ replaced by even more advanced technology. There's talk (10) __________ the moment that human skin itself might make an excellent electronic circuit board. We can all make predictions, but nobody knows for sure. And nobody knows what the era we will live in (11) __________ the near future will be called by future historians. If we already live in the Computer Age or the Information Age as some people suggest, the present-day era (12) __________ be referred to by future historians, then who knows what era we're just (13) __________ the beginning of right now?
