sentences like those just given they may be described as "present tense with
future meaning". Use of the present tense (rather than forms with
will
) is
mandatory in some subordinate clauses referring to the future, such as "If I feel
better next week, ..." and "As soon as they arrive, ...". For more details see the
sections on the simple present, present progressive and dependent clauses in the
article on English verb forms.
The
going-to
future, e.g., "John is going to leave tonight."
The construction with a finite form of the copula verb
be
together with the
to
-
infinitive, e.g., "John
is to leave
tonight". (With the zero copula of newspaper
headline style, this becomes simply "John to leave tonight".) For details see
am
to
.
The construction with
to be about to
, e.g., "John is about to leave", referring to
the expected immediate future. (A number of lexical expressions with similar
meaning also exist, such as
to be on the point of (doing something)
.)
Use of modal verbs with future meaning, to combine the expression of future
time with certain modality: "I
must
do this" (also
mun
in
Northern English
dialect); "We
should
help him"; "I
can
get out of here"; "We
may
win";
"You
might
succeed". The same modal verbs are also often used with present
rather than future reference. For details of their meanings and usage,
see English modal verbs.
Questions and negatives are formed from all of the above constructions in the
regular manner: see Questions and Negation in the English grammar article. The
auxiliaries
will
and
shall
form the contracted negations
won't
and
shan't
(they can
also sometimes be contracted when not negated, to
'll
, such as in
I'll find it
).
The various ways of expressing the future carry different meanings, implying not
just futurity but also aspect (the way an action or state takes place in time)
and/or modality (the attitude of the speaker toward the action or state).
[3][7]
The
precise interpretation must be based on the context. In particular there is sometimes
a distinction in usage between the
will/shall
future and the
going-to
future
(although in some contexts they are interchangeable). For more information see
the
going-to
future article.
Dutch can express the future in three ways:
[8]
gaan
+ infinitive: Ik ga het boek lezen (I'm going to read the book). "
Gaan
" is
a cognate of "to go".
zullen
+ infinitive: Ik zal het boek lezen (I will/shall read the book). "
Zullen
" is
a cognate of "shall".
present tense
+ context or a temporal adverb or clause:
Hoe lang blijft hij in
Nederland
? (How long is he staying in the Netherlands?) Its English-language
equivalent uses the continuous or imperfective aspect.
Zullen
+ infinitive is more similar to
shall
than to
will
. It is used to:
[9]