Your six sentences
Read out your six sentences with your marking. Your teacher will say which markings they agree with, and why.
Three sentences, three errors, all in the form.
1. I going to buy a car.
2. She is going to buys a car.
3. We will to leave at six.
Eight sentences, two piles
Sort them before you read the headings
1. I am meeting Ana at seven.
2. I am going to learn Italian one day.
3. We are flying on the 14th — the tickets came this morning.
4. I am going to tidy the garage at some point.
5. She is starting the new job on Monday.
6. They are going to move house, apparently.
7. The dentist is at four.
8. I am going to complain about it.
Sort the eight into two piles first, then answer.
1. What do 1, 3, 5 and 7 have that 2, 4, 6 and 8 do not?
2. Sentences 2, 4 and 8 all contain a vagueness. What is it?
3. So what is the test?
4. Sentence 7 has no verb at all — The dentist is at four. Why does it still work?
One question, two forms
The decision
| Ask | If yes | If no |
|---|---|---|
| Is it arranged — a time, and somebody else involved? | present continuous: I am meeting Ana at seven. | going to: I am going to call Ana. |
The forms
| Present continuous | going to | |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | I am meeting her. | I am going to meet her. |
| Negative | I am not meeting her. | I am not going to meet her. |
| Question | Are you meeting her? | Are you going to meet her? |
| Note | Needs a time, or it sounds like now | The verb after to is always bare |
Both are built on am / is / are. You spent all of Unit 6 on that auxiliary, so the form is not new — only the meaning is.
The one thing the present continuous needs: a time. I am meeting Ana on its own sounds like right now. I am meeting Ana at seven is unambiguously the future.
Linking, introduced. Said at speed, going to becomes gonna — and I am going to becomes something like I'm-gonna. Do not write it, but recognise it, or you will not hear half of what people say.
Write the verb in brackets as a present continuous or a going to future. Ask the question first.
I (fly) to Madrid on Thursday — I booked it last week. On Friday I (see) a client at nine and another one at two. At some point I (try) to get to the Prado, but nothing is fixed. I (come) back on Saturday morning, and then I (sleep) for about fourteen hours, if I can. My sister (pick) me up from the airport, so at least that part is sorted.
Match each sentence to the reason for its form.
Choose, at speed
Seven sentences, seven errors. Rewrite each one in full.
1. I going to call her tomorrow.
2. She is going to starts on Monday.
3. We will to book the tickets tonight.
4. Next week I go to Madrid, it is booked.
5. I am going to see the dentist at four, it is in the diary.
6. Are you going to come to the party on Saturday? I already said yes.
7. I am meeting Ana.
Put the parts in order to make one going to question.
Diary and wish list
Task card · Speaking
Your next two months, in two halves.
Two minutes. First half: everything that is arranged, present continuous with a time. Second half: everything you intend, going to, with no time at all.
- Make the switch audible: That is what is actually booked. What I would like to do is…
- Every arrangement needs a time. Every intention should have none.
- Then your teacher asks four questions, two of each kind, and you answer in the matching form.
Two decisions.
1. The tickets are booked for the 14th. Which?
2. You mean to learn to drive, eventually. Which?
Which form slipped
Your teacher logged both halves.
1. Which error appeared most?
2. Did you use the present continuous for the future at all in the second half?
Before the vocabulary
One question.
1. What is the question that decides between the two forms?
Before Lesson 4. Write down every travel word you cannot say in English. Booking, transport, accommodation, money.
In Portuguese, or described. That list is next lesson.