Future Simple

Form

Affirmative: I shall/will
You will
He/she/it will + verb
We shall/will
They will

Negative: I will not/shall not/ you will not
Question: Shall/will I? Will you? Etc!
Negative
Question: Will/shall I not? Will you not? or Won't/shan't I Etc.
Contractions: I'll, you'll, shan't won't etc.

Note: shall/shan't (UK only)

Usages

*Future facts and certainties

-He'll be 28 in July.
-Spring will start in March as usual
-When will you know?

*Promises

- I'll put the check in the post.

*Predictions (Based on no present evidence, as opposed to "be going to")

-It'll rain before morning.

*Assumptions/speculations

-That'll be the bailiffs at the door.
-What will happen in next week's episode?
-They'll have to see the house, I expect.

*Spontaneous decisions contrast with "be going to" for planned decisions)

-I'll get my coat.

*Threats

-You'd better go or I'll hit you.

Shall/Will

Shall is frequently used in making suggestions, invitations, etc. In affirmative sentences its use has become more formal.

Will generally expresses a stronger intention, coercion, or determination, than shall.

What shall we do with the evidence?
You shall go to the ball.
Shall we dance?
Where shall I send your mail?
Shall I do that for you?

Typical mistakes/errors

Here are some typical mistakes and errors.

Make a note of the nature of the mistake or error for each example.

* Sunday I will to go on a picnic.
* We'll going to win tomorrow.

Confusion between "be going to" and the future simple is common.

Teaching ideas

* Fortune telling/palm reading.
* With present simple in time clauses.
- She'll be happy when we arrived.
* Going on a holiday/lost in the desert- what will you take?
* Winning the lottery: what will you do?
* Predicting future changes in the next ten years using various topics.
* Predicting what others will be like in ten years.
* Songs:" When I'm 64" by the Beatles
" You'll take the High Road" (traditional)
" That'll be the Day" by Buddy Holly

Past Perfect Continuous

Form

Affirmative: (subject+had+been+verb+-ing)
Negative: (subject+had+not+been+verb+-ing)
Questions: (had+subject+been+verb+-ing)

Usage

The past perfect continuous certainly isn't the most frequently used (or taught) tense in the English language but it does have one major use:

To talk about longer actions or situations in the past that had been going on continuously up to the past moment that we are thinking about. We don't know or are not concerned with whether or not it continued after.

-Before eating lunch, she had been clipping her toenails for two hours.

Common students mistakes/errors:


As this tense has two auxiliary verbs- "had" and "been"- the omission of either one of those or the failure to add "-ing" to the main verb form are the major errors with this structure. Some problems with usage can also be expected as it can be easily confused with the past perfect (which stresses complete actions), and the past continuous.The latter implies that the actions happened around a time and not just up to that time.