# We are going to / going to go to the cinema (Presente continuo con valor de futuro)



## FHA

Saludos chicos, ¿qué tal?

Antes de nada y como siempre, daros las gracias por vuestra ayuda.

Tengo unas dudas con respecto a cuándo usar el Presente continuo con valor de futuro. 

Por ejemplo:

Sé que se puede decir:

"We are going to the cinema " pero no podría decir "We are going to go to the cinema next [S]friday[/S ] Friday  " ? ¿hay alguna diferencia?

También sé que se puede decir:


"Tonight, the students are watching a film about sharks" pero no se puede decir "Tonight, the students are going to watch a film about sharks" ¿hay alguna diferencia?

Agradecería que me explicarais cuando usar el presente continuo con valor de futuro.


Saludos y muchas gracias


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## k-in-sc

They mean essentially the same, with the difference that the use of the present continuous tense suggests a planned or scheduled action.
Note that days of the week, like languages, are always capitalized in English.


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## FHA

Thank you for the answer and advice but is it not true that the use of going to is for planned actions as well unlike the future with "will" which is not for planned actions?


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## k-in-sc

If you're talking about something that's going to happen in the future, obviously there's some level of planning or at least anticipation, however you express it.


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## FHA

Im lost, sorry. As far as I understand the use of going to is for planned actions while the use of will is not for planned actions. So if the present continous wth future meaning is as well for planning actions how can I distinguish when to use the present cont. and when to use the going to?


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## k-in-sc

I don't think there are such rigid rules. It might be better to keep in mind that "will" is more formal, "going to" is more informal and present continuous tends to be for actions that are set, fixed, planned, agreed upon, etc.
Did you have a specific example in mind?


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## FHA

Thank you for the answer. Well, being honest those rules exist but of course natives dont need them to talk, your brain uses them without noting (it happens the same to me in spanish) but the trouble is when you teach foreigners you need to know those rules and that´s my trouble now.

For example they say that use of the future with "going to" is planned while with "will" is something not planned. Examples:

- Im going to go to Paris in August => planned

- I will go to Paris in August => something just decided, not as planned as the other.

Other difference:

"will" for predictions based on opinions without real clues:

- He will fail the exam => it is just based on personal opinions.

- He is going to fail the exam => he will fail because I have data to think that, probably he didnt study.

That´s what we have written in spanish books.

About present cont. do you consider that:


"Tonight, the students are watching a film about sharks" is more planned and formal than "Tonight, the students are going to watch a film about sharks" ?

and that

"We are going to the cinema next Friday" is more planned and formal than "We are going to go to the cinema next Friday" ?

Thank you


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## k-in-sc

Sorry, that "rule" doesn't seem at all true. I have no idea where they got that. Any differences in your examples have nothing to do with the degree of planning.
(*S*panish books)
I didn't say present continuous was more _formal_, only that it *can* denote an action that is more _settled, fixed, agreed upon_. 
The "cinema" ("movies" here) and "film about sharks" examples are all fine and mean the same thing.


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## FHA

Thanks anyway. I have no idea where they got that but it is almost typical in spanish books to mention that. I have never studied those rules at high school but when I was preparing the material to my english students (as a volunteer) I read that in several places.

For example:

http://www.intercambio-es.com/es/curso.php?id=35
http://www.aulafacil.com/CursoIngles/Clase16.htm
http://www.madridteacher.com/Grammar/futuros.htm
This last one they say that mainly the difference is that will is for something spontaneous, going to for something planned but not fixed (in my diary) and present.cont for something planned and fixed (in my diary).


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## k-in-sc

FHA said:


> Thanks anyway. I have no idea where they got that but it is almost typical in *S*panish books to mention that. I have never studied those rules at high school but when I was preparing the material to my *E*nglish students (as a volunteer) I read that in several places.


(Maybe the third time is the charm )

Those sites are interesting, but there aren't always rigid differences between degrees of planning. You can say "I'm going to have lunch with the boss" or "I'm having lunch with the boss," "I'm going to study abroad next summer" or "I'm studying abroad next summer," without any difference in meaning.

Aha, maybe this is where you guys are getting this construction (non-idiomatic contraction of "will"):
*Marcela'll *be meeting us there. (Marcela nos estará esperando allí)
Looks bizarre!

(Diary: diario: "Dear Diary, today I met the cutest guy ..."
Planner: agenda: "12:30: Lunch with boss, 2:00: Sales meeting ...")


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## micafe

I must say FHA, I totally agree with k-in-sc. Sometimes the so-called rules make things much harder.


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## FHA

what about I will study abroad next summer? Is it the same meaning?

The trouble  is that in the exams they put you to choose the right one between future simple or going to, which means that in the exam you need to use those rules.

As I put in another thread this is an example of an exercises book so if you dont try to apply the rules of course they will tell it´s wrong because just one answer is correct:

1. Will you go/ are you going to go to the theatre at 7.00 ? 

2. The shark will not/ is not going to touch us in the cage.

3. When is Peter going to arrive/ will Peter arrive?

Anyway even applying the rules is not clear here because you dont know if these things are planned or sponteaneous (as it says the rule) because there no real context .

Maybe the should do what I used to do in this case when I was a highschool student  and that´s the way I learned english: choose the one which sounds better or translate it to spanish and choose the one which sounds better.

Thank you and regards


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## eventer289

micafe said:


> I must say FHA, I totally agree with k-in-sc. Sometimes the so-called rules make things much harder.




Agreed. The truth is "I'll go," "I'm going to go," and "I'm going," all literally mean the same thing. Distinguishing which to use is really a matter what comes out of my mouth first. "I'll go," I suppose one could say has the same meaning as "I plan to go," with a hint of doubt about its certainty. But the reality of actual spoken English is that all are interchangeable and carry the same connotation.

Books and rules can be written, but the speakers of the language are the ones who decide what to follow. Just remember, just because a book says it's correct doesn't mean native speakers follow that rule or distinguish with exacting certainty as indicated in the book.


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## k-in-sc

1. Are you going to go to the theater at 7:00? 
2. The shark will not touch us in the cage.
3. When will Peter arrive?
Those are just guesses. The other options don't sound bad either.
I would say:
1. Are you going to the theater at 7? 
2. The shark can't touch us in the cage.
3. When is Peter getting here?


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## FHA

Thank you. Sorry for disturbing again but so I can say without any troubles:

Will you go to the theatre at 7.00 ? 

Are you going to go to to the theatre at 7.00 ? 

Are you going to the theatre at 7.00 ? 

The shark will not touch us in the cage.

The shark is not going to touch us in the cage.

When is Peter going to arrive?

When will Peter arrive?

Thank you and regards


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## FHA

eventer289 said:


> Books and rules can be written, but the speakers of the language are the ones who decide what to follow. Just remember, just because a book says it's correct doesn't mean native speakers follow that rule or distinguish with exacting certainty as indicated in the book.



I agree, the trouble is that for an exam in Spain you need to follow those rules and a bigger trouble is that even sometimes ( like in the examples I showed) it is not clear which one to use even if you apply the rules !!!


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## Hector9

NUEVA PREGUNTA--HILOS UNIDOS​
-I will play football tonight

-I'm going to play football tonight

-I'm playing football tonight

¿ Cual es la diferencia que hay entre las 3 formas?

Sé que las 3 son correctas, hoy aprendí la 3ra forma (no tenía idea que existía) y no se cual es la diferencia entre ellas.

Si pudieran explicarme, voy a estar muy agradecido. Traten de no omitir la 3ra que es la que más me importa, junto con las otras 2.

Gracias!


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## js65

no hay diferencia entre las 3 formas de la oración.


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## Istriano

Coincido con js65


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## mimosa23

Hector9 said:


> -I will play football tonight
> 
> -I'm going to play football tonight
> 
> -I'm playing football tonight
> 
> ¿ Cual es la diferencia que hay entre las 3 formas?
> 
> Sé que las 3 son correctas, hoy aprendí la 3ra forma (no tenía idea que existía) y no se cual es la diferencia entre ellas.
> 
> Si pudieran explicarme, voy a estar muy agradecido. Traten de no omitir la 3ra que es la que más me importa, junto con las otras 2.
> 
> Gracias!


 
The first is slightly less definite, but you have the intention. With the other 2 you have plans and it is certain that you will play. There is no real difference between 2 and 3, and 3 is the more commonly used.


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## Hector9

but, Do you use them interchangeably? Are they interchangeables if you want to talk about future?


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## KeepinOn

FHA, Actually, I know the rules you're talking about related to differences in usage of "will" and "gong to". Sometimes the rules aren't used "rigidly", there may be some overlap in usage, there is a level of complexity to it. But, in general FHA, the rules you pointed out will serve you very well. 

For example, your sentence, "Will you go to the theatre at 7?" That's an example where your rule differentiating "planned" and "not planned" works really well. If you apply that rule there, the outcome would be "Are you going to the theatre at 7?" and, I would argue, sounds much more natural and "target-like" i.e. like a "native" speaker. 

The same with "I will study abroad next summer" Apply the rule, planned vs unplanned and the outcome would be "I'm going to study abroad next summer." Actually, in that example since the adverb "next summer" is included, you could use present progressive, "I'm studying abroad next summer." But the use of "will" in a sentence like that sounds "non-target-like" i.e. like a "non-native" speaker of English. 

There is more complexity to it, but differentiating between "will" and "going to" using the planned versus unplanned distinction will certainly get you a long way.

I hope this is helpful


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## KeepinOn

Oh, also, about the other sentences FHA asked about:

"The shark won't bit"
- It's possible to say "the shark isn't going to bite you", but I think "won't bite" is more common. Like I said, there are more ways of using future tenses, so the planned/unplanned distinction doesn't work for all instances, and it doesn't work for this instance. I looked at a reference (I don't remember which! sorry!) and it discussed this example, "If you don't get too close, it won't bite you" and they called that future conditional. So that's a possibility. Also, people talk about using "will" for future predictions, so that could apply to this as well.

"When is Peter getting to the party?"
- Another rule of thumb is that present progressive is generally used for arrangements.

The point is, FHA, I agree with you, there certainly are ways of distinguishing the ways that future tenses are used in English. There is variation and overlap, so the rules may not apply 100% of the time; however, I do certainly think the rules are helpful and they go a long way in developing accuracy -- especially important for exams, like you mentioned.


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## MirSr

He estado leyendo el post, pero sigue sin quedarme claro.
Hasta ahora pensaba que la estructura para formar el futuro con Going to siempre era:
Sujeto + verbo _"to be"_ + "going to" + infinitivo del verbo principal

Entonces para decir *Ella va a ir al teatro el sábado* => *she is going to go to the theatre on saturday *

Pero en uno de los exámenes que hicimos esa frase se había corregido así: *She is going to the theatre on saturday *


Se usa la misma estrutura (S+ V ToBe+Going To+Inf V Principal), menos para cuando se use el Go como verbo que indica la acción?
O se podría poner de las dos formas?

Gracias!!!


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## Hector9

Ambas formas son correctas


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## MirSr

Ok, pero sólo se podría hacer cuando tenemos como verbo principal go, no?!!!


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## Hector9

En realidad se usa con cualquier verbo, lo que pasa es que cuando usas el verbo "go" queda medio ambiguo decir "going to go" (aunque es correcto) y se prefiere usar "going to + algún lugar"

Básicamente, si tienes el verbo "go" te conviene usar el futuro con "will" o simplemente "going to + algún lugar". Para cualquier otro verbo distinto de "go" (play, por ejemplo) ahí no hay problema. Por ejemplo:

"_She's playing videogames tonight_"

"_She's going to play videogames tonight_"

P.D. La chica de tus sueños


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