Teaching English as a Foreign Language for Dummies (38 page)

Use the future simple with words like
tomorrow, next
(week, month, year) and
later.

To make the future simple of ‘to go’ you use
will
plus
go
–
will
takes the place of
to
. Likewise the future simple of ‘to buy’ is
will buy
.

Teach students that
will
doesn’t change in the 3rd person singular (that is:

‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘it’). We never say
wills’.
In addition, you can use the contraction (’ll) in positive sentences.

I
will
/I
’ll
buy that jacket tomorrow.

You
will
/you
’ll
buy that jacket tomorrow.

He/she/it
will
buy that jacket tomorrow.

We
will
buy that jacket tomorrow.

They
will
buy that jacket tomorrow.

To make the negative form of this tense you use
not
after
will.

Give some attention to the contraction of ‘will not’ –
won’t.
It looks different from how students may expect it and shouldn’t be mistaken for ‘want’ in terms of pronunciation. The phonemes for
want
and
won’t
are written like this, so you can highlight the different vowel sounds:

/wɒnt/= want

/wəυnt/= won’t

And the negatives forms look like this: I
will not
do it. I
won’t.

You can make a question by putting
will
before the subject word.

Will you help
me later?

How will
I know?

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For a negative question, it’s best to teach the contraction form, which is far more common.

Won’t
you help me? (Will you not help me?)

A fun way for teaching this tense is to use predictions. Everybody likes guessing what’ll happen to their favourite football or celebrity. Give students the event and ask them to predict in which year it will take place.

When students have progressed to intermediate level they’re likely to become more interested in the difference between the future simple and other expressions for the future. Interestingly, other uses for the future simple tense are far more subtle than the reference to when an action takes place.

In reality we don’t just use the future simple to stress that an action takes place in the future. We can use this tense to show that we have only just decided to do something rather than having carefully considered it beforehand. Suppose that you go to a restaurant and examine the menu. You’re quite likely to say something like: ‘I’ll have the steak, I think.’ Or perhaps the phone rings, and you want to do the honours. You may say, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll get it!

On the other hand, we often use the future simple to express a promise and emphasise our determination to carry out an action, as in: I’ll get it right somehow.

We can also make a request in the future simple: Will you help me lift this box please?

Going into the future continuous

Use the
future continuous tense
for an action that’s in progress at a particular moment in the future. So when you think of a particular time in the future and imagine that scene, whatever actions are taking place can be expressed with this tense.

The future continuous always includes
will
, along with
be
and a gerund. So for example:

I
will be
listen
ing.

You
will be
listen
ing.

He/she/it
will be
listen
ing.

We
will be
listen
ing.

They
will be
listen
ing.

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Part IV: The Grammar You Need to Know – and How to Teach It

‘At 7.45 this evening I will be watching my favourite soap opera.’ In fact the soap begins at 7.30 p.m. but it’ll still be on TV at 7.45 p.m., so the action will be in progress. A timeline, such as the one in Figure 16-3, can illustrate this.

Figure 16-3:

In a ques-

Watch soap opera

tion,
will

comes

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

before the Past

7.30

8.00

Present

subject

word.

Will
you be listening?

What
will
she be listening to?

It is noteworthy that when a negative question is necessary, the contraction is far more common: ‘
Won’t
they be listening?’ instead of ‘Will they not be listening?’

When you make a negative statement in this tense you add
not
after
will
or you use the contraction
won’t
:

I will
not
be listening.

They
won’t
be coming.

A good way to teach and practise this tense is with the use of a page of diary entries set in the future. Students can then role-play turning down invitations by saying what they’ll be doing instead.

You may also combine this tense with ‘at this time’ and a future time reference. So for example: ‘At this time tomorrow I will be doing my shopping’.

Getting to the future perfect

You use the
future perfect tense
when you refer to an action that’ll be finished by a particular time in the future, or before another action in the future. For example, if you imagine your retirement and the goals you hope to achieve before that time, you can use sentences on the lines of the following to express yourself:

By the time I retire, I
will have
completely
paid off
my mortgage. I
will
have lived
here for 20 years by then.

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Most sentences in the future perfect include
by
and a future time reference (next week, December and so on).

The future perfect tense always includes
will have
and a past participle. This is the same for all subject pronouns (I, you, we and so on): I
will have begun.

You
will have begun.

He/she/it
will have begun.

We
will have begun.

They
will have begun.

In the negative you use
not
after
will
or
won’t
instead.

I
will not
have begun.

I
won’t
have begun.

The question is made by putting
will
before the subject pronoun.

Will
you
have begun
by tonight?

Why
will
it
have worked
?

The pronunciation of ‘will have’ at normal speed poses problems for students.

The sound we often use for this is represented in phonemes like this /wiləv/.

It’s important for students to recognise what these words realistically sound like, otherwise they won’t hear this tense in real life situations.

A timeline, like the one in Figure 16-4, can help illustrate the future perfect.

Figure 16-4:

Timeline
move in

pay off mortgage

retire

illustrating

X

X

X

the future

2009

2029

perfect.

The idea of goals and ambitions is an ideal context for teaching this tense.

Students can set up there own time frames to explain when they hope to achieve these ambitions. They can also make predictions about the world in general.

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Looking forward to the future

perfect continuous

You use the
future perfect continuous tense
for an action that continues up to a particular point in the future. In the section on the future perfect I used the example of retirement. However, this isn’t a suitable example for the future perfect continuous as you only use it to express an action that’s completed over a period of time – and the act of retirement happens just once. People arrive at retirement age and just stop. In comparison, ‘working’ is something we do over an extended period of time and is therefore more suited to this tense.

The future perfect continuous tense always includes four important parts: After the subject comes
will
plus
have
plus
been
plus a gerund: I
will have been typing.

You
will have been typing.

He/she/it
will have been typing.

We
will have been typing.

They
will have been typing.

In a negative sentence you use
not
after
will
or
won’t
instead.

I will
not
have been typing.

I
won’t
have been typing.

You change the word order in a question. So, put
will
before the subject pronoun:

Will
you
have been typing
for hours by then?

With so many verbs in a row the pronunciation naturally becomes very contracted. ‘Will have been’ is reduced and connected to sound almost like one word. This is represented in phonemes like this: /wiləvbin/.

The main verb that follows, carries much more stress (emphasis) when you speak.

There’s often little difference in meaning between the future perfect and future perfect continuous except for the emphasis on the duration of time in the continuous form. Both of these sentences are grammatically correct but the second is more likely because 20 years is a long time and would naturally be emphasised.

I will have lived here for 20 years.

I will have been living here for 20 years.

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Expressions typically combined with this tense include: f
or ages, for over
(a week, two days and so on) and
when
plus a verb in the present simple tense.

Talking about ‘To be going to’

‘To be going to’ is not a tense as such but is an expression that shows you intend or plan to do something in the future. It sounds far less spontaneous than the future simple. Compare these sentences:

I’ll watch TV tonight.

I’m going to watch TV tonight.

The first sentence is used more often when it involves a new choice or decision: The party has been cancelled. I think I’ll watch TV tonight.

The second sentence gives the impression that you’d thought about the matter previously:

I’m going to watch TV tonight. I always watch the soaps on Mondays.

You can also use
was
or
were going to
to show that something was intended or planned in the past.

Getting the form right is easy! It’s the verb ‘to be’ in the present simple, then
going to
and then a verb in its infinitive form without the
to.

I
am going to do
something.

You
are going to do
something.

He/she/it
is going to do
something.

We
are going to do
something.

They
are going to do
something.

‘Gonna’ is a common informal way of saying ‘going to’. It’s good for students to recognise well-known slang words but don’t encourage your learners to use them.

In negative sentences you put
not
after ‘to be’
:
They
are not going to help.

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In a question the word order changes so that ‘to be’ is before the subject pronoun:

Are
we
going to like
it?

In normal speech we don’t tend to stress, or emphasise ‘to be going to’ but rather the verb that follows. It’s therefore helpful to get students repeating sentences with the appropriate stress – I’m going to
wait here
.

In addition, you use ‘to be going to’ when you can see that something is likely to happen based on evidence you have now. For example, when you see black clouds you probably say, ‘It’s going to rain’.

However, it’s best to leave this second usage until at least intermediate level.

Go through the structure making sure that your students recognise all the various parts needed.

Students who are a bit lazy latch on to ‘will’ and use it whenever they’re referring to the future. Others attempt to be cool and informal but end up saying, ‘I gonna’.

Here’s an idea for using this tense in context. Show or list some ingredients for a popular local dish. Ask students to suggest why you have these items.

Now refer to a group of friends, who can be guests, and any other dinner party arrangements. This provides the context for sentences such as: You’re going to have a party.

You’re going to invite your friends to dinner.

Students can then organise their own imaginary events and compare ideas using ‘to be going to’.

Chapter 17

Exploring More Important

Verb Structures

In This Chapter

▶ Helping out the main verb with a modal

▶ Adding prepositions for phrasal verbs

▶ Using ‘if’ and ‘when’ with conditionals

In Chapter 16 I talk about the various tenses in English, which is really the bulk of the grammar you teach students. However, a few other grammar areas tend to give learners the shivers but with a little insight you can make them manageable and maybe even fun. So in this chapter I tell you about modal and phrasal verbs as well as the conditionals.