Will Future vs Going to Future: Spot the Difference

Will Future vs Going to Future: Spot the Difference

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to confidently differentiate between the will future and the going to future.

Introduce the learning objective and let the students know what they should be able to do by the end of the lesson.

What do you already know about the difference between the will future and the going to future?

What are the Will and Going to Futures?

The will future is used to talk about future events that are not planned, while the going to future is used to talk about future events that are planned or likely to happen.

Explain the difference between the two tenses and give examples.

Forming the Will Future

To form the will future, use the auxiliary verb 'will' + the base form of the main verb.

Explain the structure of the will future and provide examples.

Forming the Going to Future

To form the going to future, use the auxiliary verb 'be' + 'going to' + the base form of the main verb.

Explain the structure of the going to future and provide examples.

Exercise 1

Choose the correct future tense: I ___________ go to the beach tomorrow. (will / going to)

Give the students an exercise to practice choosing between the will future and the going to future.

Exercise 2

Choose the correct future tense: She ___________ be a doctor when she grows up. (will / going to)

Give the students another exercise to practice choosing between the will future and the going to future.

Exercise 3

Rewrite the sentence using the other future tense: I am going to buy a new car next year. (will)

Give the students an exercise to practice switching between the two future tenses.

Exercise 4

Rewrite the sentence using the other future tense: They will play football this afternoon. (going to)

Give the students another exercise to practice switching between the two future tenses.

Key Differences

The key differences between the will future and the going to future are the level of certainty and whether or not the event is planned.

Summarize the key differences between the two future tenses.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You can now confidently differentiate between the will future and the going to future.

Wrap up the lesson and congratulate the students on their progress.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.