Going to

Going to is not a tense. It is a special expression to talk about the future.

Structure of Going to

The structure is:

subject + be + going + infinitive

The verb be is conjugated (past, present or future).

	subject	be	(not)	going	infinitive
+	I	am		going	to buy	a new car.
+	I'm			going	to go	swimming.
-	He	is	not	going	to take	the exam.
-	It	isn't		going	to rain.
?	Are	you		going	to paint	the house?

Use of Going to

Going to - intention

We use going to when we have the intention to do something before we speak. We have already made a decision before speaking. Look at these examples:

• Jo has won the lottery. He says he's going to buy a Porsche.
• We're not going to paint our bedroom tomorrow.
• When are you going to go on holiday?

In these examples, we had an intention or plan before speaking. The decision was made before speaking.

Going to - prediction

We often use going to to make a prediction about the future. Our prediction is based on present evidence. We are saying what we think will happen. Here are some examples:

• The sky is very black. It's going to snow.
• It's 8.30! You're going to miss the train!
• I crashed the company car. My boss isn't going to be very happy!

In these examples, the present situation (black sky, the time, damaged car) gives us a good idea of what is going to happen.