There are some differences between these three ways of talking about the future. The differences are not always important; often we can use two or three different forms to talk about the same thing.
PREDICTIONS
Going to: we can see the future in the present; we see things coming or starting:
Look out! You’re going to break that glass! (I can see it now.)
Will: we think or believe things about the future:
Don’t give him a watch – he‘ll break it. (I think so, because I know him.)
Practice I: What’s the best form?
Perhaps we are going to / will meet again one day.
Look! Andy is going to / will fall off his bike!
I think you are going to / will love Paris.
Look at those clouds: it‘s going to / will rain.
DECISIONS
Will: we are making decisions; spontaneous decisions made at the time of speaking:
‘We’ve got a letter from Jan.’ ‘Ok, I‘ll answer it.‘
Going to: decisions are already made; decision made before the time of speaking:
‘There are a lot of letters to answer.’ ‘I know. ‘I‘m going to do them all on Tuesday.’
Practice II: Which one: I’ll or I’m going to?
I’ve decided (that) ……………… stop smoking.
‘I don’t want to cook tonight.’ ‘All right, then. ……..cook.’
‘I haven’t got any money.’ ‘No? OK. ………….. pay.’
‘Do you want to go out tonight?’ ‘No, ………….. study English.’
‘These pants are dirty.’ ‘Really? Oh, yes, they are. …………. wash them.’
‘Is Ann eating with us?’ ‘Wait a minute. ………….. ask her.’
PLANSAND ARRANGEMENTS
Going to and the present progressive are often both possible when we talk about plans.
We use the present progressive mostly for fixed plans with a definite time and/or place:
I‘m going tosee Ann sometime soon.
I‘m meeting Ann at the theater at 8 pm.
Sarah‘s starting university on September 17.
Practice III: In three of these sentences, the present progressive is possible. Which three?
Jack is going to arrive at 4 pm.
I’m going to learn French one of these days.
I’m going to fly to Paris next year.
Mom’s going to tell me about her problems.
We’re all going to spend this month in Brazil.
Are you going to answer all those emails?
ANSWERS:
PRACTICE I: 1. will; 2. is going to; 3. will; 4. is going to
Phrasal verbs são duas ou mais palavras que juntas resultam em uma nova palavra.
Muito comuns no inglês falado, os phrasal verbs podem ser bastante confusos, pois seus significados nem sempre são fáceis de deduzir – e existem milhares deles. Na verdade, muitos phrasal verbs são variações distintas do mesmo verbo base, o que pode causar dúvidas.
Vejamos o phrasal verb get over, por exemplo. O verbo get significa “adquirir”, e a preposição “over” geralmente refere-se a estar mais alto ou acima de algo. No entanto, junte-os, e o phrasal verb get over significa “recuperar” ou “superar”, portanto, um novo significado.
Two-part verbs
São os phrasal verbs formados por um verboe uma partícula:
grow + up The children are growing up.
take + after She takes after her mother. (= She looks like her mother or she behaves like her mother.)
count + on I know I can count on you. (= I know I can trust you or I know I can believe you.)
Inseparable phrasal verbs
Alguns two-part verbs possuem somente um padrão, os inseparable phrasal verbs, ou seja, não podem ser separados:
Subject
Verb
Particle
Object
The children
are growing
up.
–
She
takes
after
her mother.
I
can count
on
you.
Mas outros two-part verbs possuem dois padrões. O usual é o separable:
Separable phrasal verbs
Quando o separable phrasal verb é seguido por um substantivo, podemos separá-lo ou não.
Noun (subject)
Verb
Noun (object)
Particle
She
gave
the money
back.
He
knocked
the glass
over.
We
will be leaving
our friends
behind.
A seguir, os advérbios mais comuns em um phrasal verb, que indicam que ele pode ser separável –SEPARABLE:
Quando o phrasal verb é seguido por um um PRONOME PESSOAL (I, me, you, we, us), o verbo e a partícula devem sempre ser separados, ou seja, são sempre SEPARABLE:
She gave it back. (NOT She gave back it.)
He knocked it over. (NOT He knocked over it.)
We will be leaving them behind. (NOT We will be leaving behind them.)
Three-part verbs
Alguns verbos são compostos por três partes: um verbo e duas partículas. Eles seguem o padrão INSEPARABLE:
Noun (subject)
Verb
Particle
Particle
Noun (object)
His girlfriend
walked
out
on
him.
She
caught
up
with
the other runners.
Children
should look
up
to
their parents.
Os phrasal verbs são usados do mesmo modo que um verbo qualquer, ou seja, em qualquer forma ou tempo:
Simple past tense:
I had the flu last week but got over it.
Infinitive:
I rested last week to get over the flu.
Gerund:
I spent last week getting over the flu.
Observe que apenas o verbo é conjugado. A ou as partículas que o seguem, permanecem como são.
Questions are quite tricky. Let’s just go over the main rules.
PRACTICE
Now watch the video and look at the examples of questions. They are in red in the subtitles. Transcribe the conversation to learn more. Read and study the information provided below, and finally, do the grammar exercises to check you understand and can use questions correctly.
We usually form questions by putting an auxiliary verb, or a modal verb, before the subject:
Does it suit me? Has Mum called? Can you get the tea? Shall I pass you to Oliver?
When the verb ‘to be’ is the main verb, we don’t use auxiliary verbs:
Is Oliver there? Was it good?
We can add question words to get more or different information:
Where did you go swimming? > In the swimming pool in town. Why did you go there? > Because it’s a nice, big pool. Who did you go swimming with? > With Amy. What time did you meet Amy? > At 10 o’clock. Which pool did you go in? > The serious one, without the slides! How did you get there? > On the bus.
Questions sometimes finish with prepositions:
Who were you out with? What have you got that bag for? What’s all that about? Where are you calling from?
SUBJECT AND OBJECT QUESTIONS
If who, what or which is the subject of the question, it comes before the verb and we don’t use do as an auxiliary:
Who went out for curry? (subject – who) What happened? (subject – what) Which looks better, this or that one? (subject – which)
Object questions follow the structure we looked at before:
Who did you go out for curry with? (subject – you; object – who) Which restaurant does Oliver like most? (subject – Oliver; object – which) What did they do after the restaurant? (subject – they; object – what)
TEST YOURSELF
Here’s a little test for you, then. A cat killed a mouse and a dog killed the cat.
1 What killed the mouse? 2 What did the cat kill? 3 What killed the cat? 4 What did the dog kill?
Answers: 1 the cat, 2 the mouse, 3 the dog, 4 the cat.
REPORTED SPEECH QUESTIONS
Reported speech questions are more polite, especially if you are talking to a stranger:
‘Do you know where the post office is?’
And we can make them even more polite.
‘Excuse me, could you tell me where the post office is, please?’
In reported speech or indirect questions, question words come in the middle of sentences. In these types of sentence, the word order does not change. We don’t put the verb to be before the subject or use an auxiliary to form a question, as in a normal question:
I asked her what she was doing at the weekend. Do you know where the post office is? Can you tell me how much it costs?
What are you doing at the weekend? Where is the post office? How much does it cost?
EXERCISES
1. Check your grammar – complete the gaps with a question word below.
What / Where / How / How often / When / Why / Who / Whose
1. A: ____________________ are you going on holiday? B: Next Friday.
2. A: ____________________ are you going? B: Croatia.
3. A: ____________________ bought the tickets? B: My mum did.
4. A: ____________________ do you go on holiday? B: Once every two years.
5. A: ____________________ don’t you go more often? B: Because we don’t want to.
6. A: ____________________ do you do the other years? B: We relax in the garden and visit friends.
7. A: ____________________ do you choose your holiday destination? B: We use the internet.
8. A: And ____________________ idea was it to go to Croatia? B: Our neighbours recommended it.
2. Check your grammar – circle the correct sentence.
1. a. What you have for lunch? b. What did you have for lunch? c. What had you for lunch?
2. a. Who is that letter from? b. From who is that letter? c. Who is from that letter?
3. a. She always sings in the shower? b. Sings she always in the shower? c. Does she always sing in the shower?
4. a. Can we go and visit Gran? b. We can go and visit Gran? c. Can go and visit Gran?
5. a. Who you bought those boots? b. Who bought you those boots? c. Who did buy you those boots?
6. a. Do you go to the cinema how often? b. How often do you go to the cinema? c. How often you go to the cinema?
7. a. What did he in Germany? b. What he did in Germany? c. What did he do in Germany?
8. a. Would you like another piece of cake? b. Do you would like another piece of cake? c. Do you like another piece of cake?
3. Check your grammar – ordering
Write the words in the correct order to make questions.
1. to Who were you ? talking …………………………………………………………………………………….…………………..
2. are at they ? looking What …………………………………………………………………………………….…………………..
3. music ? down the you Could turn …………………………………………………………………………………….…………………..
4. is for What homework the today ? …………………………………………………………………………………….…………………..
5. Who that photo ? took …………………………………………………………………………………….…………………..
6. match time does ? the start What …………………………………………………………………………………….…………………..
7. you How clean often ? do teeth your …………………………………………………………………………………….…………………..
1. Check your grammar: gap fill 1. When 2. Where 3. Who 4. How often 5. Why 6. What 7. How 8. whose
2. Check your grammar: multiple choice 1. b 2. a 3. c 4. a 5. b 6. b 7. c 8. a
3. Check your grammar: ordering 1. Who were you talking to? 2. What are they looking at? 3. Could you turn the music down? 4. What is the homework for today? 5. Who took that photo? 6. What time does the match start? 7. How often do you clean your teeth? 8. Why don’t polar bears eat penguins?
