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Dan Hi guys! Dan for BBC Learning English here
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with this week's Learner Question. Find out what it is after this.
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This week's learner question comes from Christina from Austria, who asks: Would you be able
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to explain the difference between "will" and "going to" when talking about the future,
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please?
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Of course, Christina, it's quite a common question. I hope this answer helps.
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So, there's a difference between future predictions and future plans and we're only
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going to be looking at future plans for the moment. Please remember that these rules are
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a rough guide and sometimes native speakers bend or even break them – so be careful.
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So, a man goes to the airport. He's carrying a suitcase. In the suitcase is a passport,
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some clothes, some sunglasses and a ticket. He's goes up to the check-in desk and he
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says to the lady there, “I'm flying to Spain later today.” Notice this is the present
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continuous. That's for a future arrangement. It's called an arrangement because it's
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like a plan, but he has the ticket, and the ticket is evidence of the plan. This means
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that if the man were to disappear, the airline would still expect him to arrive for the flight.
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That's what the evidence means.
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However, the lady behind the check-in desk says “Sorry. No, that flight's been cancelled.
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But you can fly to Australia or to Russia.” Well, this is a big decision, so the man goes
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to the cafe to think about it. When he comes back he says, “Ok, I'm going to fly to
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Australia.” That's be going to for a future plan. He's had time to think about it in
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the cafe before speaking, but he doesn't have a ticket so it's not an arrangement.
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But the lady behind the check-in desk says “Sorry! You took too long in the cafe. That
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flight has gone. But you can still fly to Russia.” So, the man says, “Ok. I will
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fly to Russia.” That's will for a future based on a decision made at the moment of
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speaking.” He makes the decision at that time. No plan existed before that.
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Did you get it? That's present continuous for a future arrangement. It's be going
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to for a future plan and it's will for an instant decision made at that moment.
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I hope that answers your question Christina. Thank you very much for writing to us. If
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anybody else out there has a question for Learners' Questions, you can email us on:
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[email protected] Please remember to put Learners' Questions in the subject
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box and your name and the country that you're writing from. Unfortunately, we get so many
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emails that can't every question, guys, but we do read every single one. And for more
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information, go to our website, bbclearningenglish.com. That's it for this week's Learners'
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Questions. I'll see you next time. Bye!
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