What Is The Future Simple Tense?

Do you ever feel like you need more than the language you were taught in school to help your students prepare for the future? As teachers today, it’s essential to understand how different tenses work and how they can be used effectively. The Future Simple Tense is a powerful tool that can be used to express foreseeable events or actions.

This blog post will explore this particular tense and why teachers must understand its application. Whether you currently teach English as a second language or are looking for ways to expand your understanding of linguistics, this post will surely provide critical insights into the frequently-overlooked yet vitally important Future Simple Tense.

The 12 Tenses in English Grammar

English grammar has 12 tenses, which indicate when a particular action occurred or will occur. The tenses are divided into three main categories: the present, the past, and the future. Here’s a brief description of each tense:

1. Simple Present: Used to indicate a present action or a routine habit
2. Present Continuous: Used to indicate an ongoing action in the present
3. Present Perfect: Used to indicate an action that started in the past and has continued up until now
4. Present Perfect Continuous: Used to indicate an action that began in the past and is ongoing up until now
5. Simple Past: Used to indicate an action that occurred in the past and is now complete
6. Past Continuous: Used to indicate a continuous action in the past
7. Past Perfect: Used to indicate an action that was completed before another past action
8. Past Perfect Continuous: Used to indicate an action that was ongoing in the past and was completed before another past action
9. Simple Future: Used to indicate a future action that will occur
10. Future Continuous: Used to indicate an ongoing action in the future
11. Future Perfect: Used to indicate an action that will be completed before another future action
12. Future Perfect Continuous: Used to indicate an action that will be ongoing up until another future action.

Understanding the Future Simple Tense

The future simple tense is one of the 12 verb tenses in English grammar. It is used to describe an action that will happen in the future. The future simple tense is formed using the word “will”, followed by the base form of the main verb. For example, “I will go to the park tomorrow.”

Here are some more examples of sentences in the future simple tense:

• She will graduate from college next year.
• They will arrive at the airport at noon.

The future simple tense is usually used to express predictions or beliefs about the future. It can also express a simple action at a specific time.

The future simple tense is also sometimes used in conditional sentences, where one action is dependent on another action taking place. In this case, the main clause contains the future simple tense, and the subordinate clause includes the present tense. For example, “If I win the lottery, I will travel the world.”

Other words can also be used to indicate a future event or action. For instance, ‘shall’ may be used to predict the future, but it’s primarily used in formal writing, whereas ‘will’ is used mainly in informal conversations.

How Does the Future Simple Tense Differ from Other Tenses?

The future simple tense differs from the other verb tenses in English grammar. While other forms of the verb indicate an action that has already happened or an action that is currently taking place, the future simple tense indicates a future event. This makes it particularly helpful when making predictions or expressing beliefs about what will happen in the future.

For example, other tenses can be used to say something like “I went to the store,” which expresses an action already taking place. The future simple tense can be used to express something like “I will go to the store tomorrow,” which describes a move that will take place in the future.

In addition, many other verb tenses in English rely on auxiliary verbs such as “have” or “are”, but for forming the future simple tense, only one auxiliary verb is needed: “will”. For example, “I will go to the store tomorrow.” There are also some particular expressions that are used with the future simple tense, such as “going to” and “gonna”, which add more variety and nuance when talking about future actions.

20 Examples of The Future Simple Tense

1. I will call you when I get home.
2. We will go to the beach this weekend.
3. She will finish her paper tomorrow.
4. They will arrive at the airport on time.
5. He will learn how to drive next year.
6. We will celebrate our anniversary in Paris.
7. I will deliver a speech about climate change at the conference next week.
8. You will get your promotion soon.
9. The team will win first place in the tournament this year.
10. They will paint their house blue next month.
11. If I pass my exam, I will go to university in September.
12. She’ll meet her best friend for lunch tomorrow afternoon.
13. He’ll buy his parents a new car after he gets his bonus.
14. The company will open a new branch overseas in two months.
15. 15 They’ll visit all fifty states in the USA within five years.
16. She’ll become an engineer by the time she is 25 years old.
17. He’ll finish writing his book before summer starts.
18. We’ll take a flight to Tokyo next month.
19. You’ll be able to complete this task by tomorrow morning.
20. We’ll have dinner at 7 pm tonight.

Teaching Kids About the Future Simple Tense

The future simple tense is a tricky verb tense for children to learn, but with the right approach, it can be taught in fun and engaging way. Here are some teaching opportunities to help kids understand the future simple tense:

1. Have students act out conversations using the future simple tense. Please encourage them to role-play scenarios like making plans or discussing what they will do tomorrow or next week.
2. Explain that some verbs need an auxiliary verb (“will”) to form this sentence structure, while others do not. Provide examples of each to help clarify when “will” should be used and when it can be left out.
3. Use real-life examples that children can relate to – like talking about family vacations, after-school activities, or weekend plans – to demonstrate how people use the future simple tense every day.
4. Play games with kids and have them practice forming sentences in the future simple tense by turning it into a challenge or friendly competition.
5. Help kids recognize special expressions such as “gonna”, “going to”, and other variations of these phrases since they are commonly used when forming future sentences in English grammar rules.
6. Ask students what they think might happen and have them express their thoughts using the correct form of the future simple tense for added context and understanding about its purpose and usage.

Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan 1: Introduction to the Future Simple Tense

Objective:

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to identify and construct sentences using the future simple tense.

Introduction:

Greet students and introduce them to using the future simple tense in English. Explain how it is used when discussing events that will happen at a particular time or with regular activities or habits. Use some examples to illustrate your point further.

Main Teaching Points:

• Introduce students to the auxiliary verb “will” and explain when it should be used. Show examples that illustrate its purpose.
• Have students come up with scenarios where they must use ‘will’ as part of forming sentences in this verb tense.
• Explain how irregular verbs also form sentences in the future simple tense but without the need for any auxiliary verbs like ‘will’ or ‘shall’.
• Have students practice writing sentences using both types of verbs by giving them a list of verbs and asking them to create various sentences out of those words to understand better how these types of sentences are formulated.

Reflection:

Ask students what they learned today and encourage them to reflect on their answers from earlier activities involving sentence formation using regular and irregular verbs. Additionally, ask them why it is essential to know how to properly use the future simple tense in English language conversations and discourse.

Key Questions:

Ask questions such as “When do we use the future simple tense?”, “Which verbs require auxiliary words for us to form this type of sentence?” and “What kinds of activities can we talk about when using this verb tense?”.

Lesson Plan 2: Practicing Sentence Formation Using The Future Simple Tense

Objective:

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to compose complete sentences with proper structure confidently, know when and how to use different words like auxiliaries, adverbs, pronouns etc., and identify grammatical errors within specific sentences related to this particular verb tense.

Introduction:

Recap what has been taught previously regarding sentence formation using the future simple tense by asking questions related to topics covered during lecture time, such as examples given earlier on which type of verbs requires auxiliaries versus which do not etc. Students can jot down their answers before moving on to the main teaching points for additional review.

Main Teaching Points:

• Review common mistakes students make concerning different word placements within complete sentences (for example, incorrect usage for auxiliaries).
• Assign worksheets containing exercises on sentence formation practices involving word selection from given lists (single and multiple choice options). Give detailed instructions on completing entire tasks from start point to finish so that all instructions are noted before allowing any student(s) into any other subsequent activity regarding sentence structure formulation about rules about this particular verb tenses usage inside discourse conversation setting environment context atmosphere conditions situations etc.
• Provide sample tests/quizzes (short answer/multiple choice format) at endpoints throughout the session whereby monitor student progress/performance via online submitted responses, direct feedback systems etc.

Reflection:

After task completion, ask follow-up questions aimed towards assessment analysis data gathering, tracking record keeping, and forensic documentation.