In English, there are twelve main types of temporary forms, each of which has its own formula of education. Like any other language that lends itself to logical explanation and has a clear sentence structure, English is able to describe actions that occur in three tenses: past, present and future.
This together means that there are four types of temporary forms for each tense: Simple, Continuous/Progressive (they are the same thing), Perfect and Perfect Continuous/Progressive. How to remember such a number of formulas? At first glance, this seems like an impossible task, however, in fact, you can wield all four forms in each tense quite easily if you start from the basics, namely from the simplest tense - Future Simple.
What is the Future Simple and what can be described with it?
The definition from English textbooks and tutorials, which will probably come to mind in the first place, because it is familiar from the school bench, is as follows: the simple future tense. However, the most concise description is not always the most correct and complete, because the Future Simple formula is much more specific and at the same timemultifaceted. It can be used to describe events in the following chronological framework:
- Actions that will happen in the indefinite future. The author/speaker knows for sure that something is about to happen, but does not know exactly when.
- Actions in the future, the time of which is quite determined, but so far away that it is not connected with the present. For example: the next day (so far away that it is not related to today), in a week, in a year.
And not only frames. The actions themselves also differ:
- You can say about an event that will start and end at a certain point in time.
- Describe an action that will be repeated over and over again for some (not always defined) time in the future.
- Tell about successive events. A similar phenomenon can be observed when studying the Past Simple, which also serves to describe a chain of actions, but in the past, not in the future.
Convinced of the versatility of the Future Simple formula, hardly anyone will not find it necessary to study its structure in detail. You should start with the basic one.
Future Simple Statement
The formula for education in the Future Simple affirmative sentence in general is as follows:
| Sentence member | Example | Translation | |
| 1 | Subject | I | I |
| 2 | Auxiliary verb will | will | - |
| 3 | Predicate | go | I will go/I will go |
| 4 | Supplement | with you | with you |
| 5 | Circumstance | tomorrow | tomorrow |
This structure is quite flexible. Suggestions can be found:
- with several circumstances or additions;
- with short adverbs between subject and auxiliary verb;
- with definitions and other decorations.
However, the grammatical basis of the sentence always remains the same.
Negative in Future Simple
The Future Simple formula in this case remains almost unchanged. But what does she look like? Those who have already studied other English tenses will surely remember the auxiliary verbs in Present, Past and Future Simple, which attach the not particle to themselves, which, in fact, makes the sentence a negation. It looks like this:
| Sentence member | Example | Translation | |
| 1 | Subject | She | She |
| 2 | Auxiliary verb will | will | - |
| 3 | Particle not | not | not |
| 4 | Predicate | hang out | spend time |
| 5 | Supplement | with you and your friends | with you and yourfriends |
| 6 | Circumstance | next weekend | next weekend |
Auxiliary verbs of the Future Simple do not differ from other verbs of this category of tenses. The word order has not changed, only a particle has been added, meaning negation. Like the previous one, this formula allows changes, additions, but is flexible enough to experiment with the style and form of presentation. Its basis must remain unchanged.
Question in Future Simple
This formula is slightly more complicated than the previous ones, but still follows the structure common to all times in the Simple category.
| Sentence member | Example | Translation | |
| 1 | Auxiliary verb will | will | - |
| 2 | Subject | you | You |
| 3 | Predicate | buy | buy |
| 4 | Supplement | this car | this car |
| 5 | Circumstance | next year? | next year? |
As you can see from the table, the word order has changed significantly: the auxiliary verb now comes before the subject. This formula is worth remembering, especially for those who have begun to study English tenses with the Future Simple. A similar verbal "castling" can be observed in almost all other types of temporal forms. In fact, the only exceptions aresome modal verbs.
Conditional sentences
There are three types of conditional sentences in English. The Future Simple formula affects only one of them: the real action in the future tense. In Russian it might look like this:
- If he can come, I will be happy.
- When the rain stops, the children will start playing in the yard.
Both the main clause and the subordinate clause at first glance require the Future Simple, as they refer to the future tense. However, in English, the Present Simple is used in the subordinate part of the sentence. It looks like this:
- If he is able to come, I will be happy. (Not will be, but is).
- When it stops to rain, children will start playing out home. (Not it will stop, but it stops).
It is very important not to confuse conditional sentences with explanatory sentences containing the word "if" or "when". For example:
- "I don't know if she'll come" is not a conditional sentence, as neither action is a condition for the other. In English, this phrase sounds like this: I don't know if she will come.
- "They told me when the show would start" is not a conditional sentence either. Its English version is as follows: They told when the show will begin.
For any English learner, this information is enough to speak fluently about events in the future tense.
