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Hello friends, welcome back.
Are you struggling to express yourself in English when talking about the future?
Are you tired of always using the two forms will and going to? In this video lesson you'll learn
six other forms you can use to express yourself in English when talking about future ideas.
We'll analyze each form, we'll go through a few examples,
and we'll see what situations you can use these forms in when speaking in English.
Before we go through the different forms you could use to express yourself in the future, think of those forms
you know at the moment and try to answer this question in the comments below this video.
Answer the question. What are you going to do tomorrow? So, use a future tense
you know at the moment and try to answer that question. What are you going to do tomorrow?
Let's begin by looking at the first form 'be to'.
Now, there are two main uses for the 'be to' form to express future ideas.
The 'be to' form is often used if we want to make an official
arrangement. For example, Barrack Obama is to visit Russia.
Here, this is a formal arrangement, so the 'be to' form is used. You may also notice in news headlines that be is
often left out,
for example: Barrack Obama to visit Russia.
Now the second use of this form could be used to express a rule or an order for a person of authority.
For example, no one is to leave the building without permission. A good example of this in use could be, for example, your
principal. Imagine you're at school and the principal tells all the students, tells all of you, that no one is to leave the building without
permission.
Here the principal has a form of authority, so he makes rules, he or she sorry,
they set rules, and for this reason, the be to form is used, because they said the rules, they said the order and the
principal is a person of authority. Another form you could use to express the future could be 'be about to'.
This form is very often used if we're talking about a near-future action or event.
Please note, here, with this form, we don't usually define a time.
For example: The concert is about to start. In the example the concert is about to start,
we know that it will happen very, very soon in the very near future.
Use this form, be about to, when you would like to express that something will happen in the very near future.
The third way you could express future ideas could be
'be on point of'.
'Be on point of' has a very similar meaning to 'be about to'.
Though 'be on point of' is a little more formal than 'be about to'. We also use this form, 'be on point of',
to express actions which will happen very very soon in the very near future.
For example: They are on point of starting a new business here.
They are a point of is being used because they are very close. It's happening in the very near future.
So another way you could say they will ,you could use they are on point of starting a new business.
Again, this is a very formal way of expressing huge ideas. Use it in work purposes, for professional purposes when
speaking in English. The fourth form you could use to talk about the future could be 'be due to'.
Friend, use this form if you are talking about a timetable or a set date. For example:
You're invited to your friend's wedding.
You know it will happen in the future.
So you could express this in English by saying: The wedding is due to take place on the 30th of September.
Again: The wedding is due to take place on the 30th of September.
The fifth form you could use to talk about the future is 'be set to'. This form is very often used in news reports to
talk about things that will have been very very soon. For example: JK
Rowling is said to publish her new book. Here instead of saying: JK Rowling will publish her new book,
we are saying JK. Rowling is set to publish her new book.
Again, this is a very formal way and for this reason
it's used in lot, in newspaper reports, any news headlines.
The sixth and final way
you could express yourself when talking about huge ideas in English is 'be bound to' or 'be certain to'.
If you want to express that something will happen in the future a hundred percent, so there's no chance of it not happening,
then you can use this form. For example: There's bound to be trouble, or
Mark's certain to quit his job. In both these sentences in both these situations,
this action in the future will happen,
definitely, will happen a hundred percent, so for this reason 'bound to' and 'certain to' is being used.
There you have it, friends, six other ways you can express yourself when talking about the future in
English. Remember friends, if you like this video lesson, make sure to like it, hit subscribe and turn on notifications,
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Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the comments below this video.
Bye for now.