Future with Going To

Form

The 'going to' future is formed with the subject + the correct form of 'be' (am/is/are) + 'going to' + the base form of the verb (I am going to study, she is going to leave, they are going to win). The negative adds 'not' after 'be' (I'm not going to wait), and questions move 'be' in front of the subject (Are you going to come?). 'Be' must agree with the subject, unlike 'will'.

When to Use It

• Plans and intentions decided before the moment of speaking (I'm going to visit my grandmother this weekend.)
• Predictions based on present evidence you can see (Look at those clouds — it's going to rain.)
• Things that are clearly about to happen (Be careful, you're going to drop that!)
• Talking about decisions already made (We're going to paint the kitchen blue.)

Signal Words

Common Mistakes

• Dropping the verb 'be' (I going to leave -> I'm going to leave).
• Using the wrong form of 'be' for the subject (she are going to -> she is going to).
• Using a past or -ing verb after 'going to' instead of the base form (going to went -> going to go).
• Using 'will' for an evidence-based prediction; with visible evidence, 'going to' is more natural (it's going to rain).