WILL AND GOING TO

Future - Will vs. Going to

English Grammar Rules

A very confusing concept is when to use WILL and when to use BE GOING TO when we refer the future.

Both refer to the future and there is a slight difference between the two though in most cases they can be used interchangeably with no difference in meaning. Even if you misuse them, a native speaker is going to understand you without any problems.

Quick Summary Chart

 

When to use GOING TO

The structure BE GOING TO is normally used to indicate the future but with some type of connection to the present. We use it in the following situations:

1. When we have already decided or we INTEND to do something in the future. (Prior Plan)

The decision has been made before the moment of speaking.

• They're going to retire to the beach - in fact they have already bought a little beach house.
• I'm going to accept the job offer.

2. When there are definite signs that something is going to happen. (Evidence)

Something is likely to happen based on the evidence or experience you have.

• I think it is going to rain - I just felt a drop.
• I don't feel well. I think I'm going to throw up. (throw up = vomit)

3. When something is about to happen:

• Get back! The bomb is going to explode.

When to use WILL

In other cases, where there is no implicit or explicit connection to the present, use WILL:

1. For things that we decide to do now. (Rapid Decisions)

This is when you make a decision at that moment, in a spontaneous way.

• I'll buy one for you too.
• I think I'll try one of those. (I just decided this right now)

2. When we think or believe something about the future. (Prediction)

• My team will not win the league this season.
• I think it will rain later so take an umbrella with you.

Note: You can use both Will and Going to for making future predictions.

3. To make an offer, a promise or a threat.

• I'll give you a discount if you buy it right now.
• I promise I will behave next time.
• I'll take you to the movies if you'd like.

4. You use WON'T when someone refuses to do something.

• I told him to take out the trash but he won't do it.
• My kids won't listen to anything I say.
• My car won't start.

Future Predictions

As you can see, both Will and Going to can be used for making future predictions without having a real difference in meaning.

• The weather report says it will rain tomorrow. (Correct)
• The weather report says it is going to rain tomorrow. (Correct)

Compare Will vs. Going To

If someone asks: "Are you busy this evening?"

If I respond: "Yes, I'm going to the movies." I use going to because it is a plan I made earlier (before I was asked the question). - In this case we cannot use Will.

If I haven't made plans, then you can say either: "I will probably watch TV." OR "I'm probably going to watch TV."

Both will and going to are possible in this situation because we are predicting what will happen (since we haven't made any plans).

Activities

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2

EXERCISE 3

EXERCISE 4

EXERCISE 5

RELATIVE CLAUSES

Content

How to form relative clauses 

Relative pronouns 

Subject pronouns or Object pronouns? 

Relative adverbs 

Defining relative clauses 

Non-defining relative clauses 

How to shorten relative clauses 

Exercises and Tests

Exercises and tests on relative clauses

We use relative clauses to give additional information about something without starting another sentence. By combining sentences with a relative clause, your text becomes more fluent and you can avoid repeating certain words.

How to Form Relative Clauses 

Imagine, a girl is talking to Tom. You want to know who she is and ask a friend whether he knows her. You could say:

A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?

That sounds rather complicated, doesn't it? It would be easier with a relative clause: you put both pieces of information into one sentence. Start with the most important thing  – you want to know who the girl is.

Do you know the girl …

As your friend cannot know which girl you are talking about, you need to put in the additional information  – the girl is talking to Tom. Use „the girl“ only in the first part of the sentence, in the second part replace it with the relative pronoun (for people, use the relative pronoun „who“). So the final sentence is:

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Relative Pronouns 

relative pronoun	use	example
who	subject or object pronoun for people	I told you about the woman who lives next door.
which	subject or object pronoun for animals and things	Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof?
which	referring to a whole sentence	He couldn’t read which surprised me.
whose	possession for people animals and things	Do you know the boy whose mother is a nurse?
whom	object pronoun for people, especially in non-defining relative clauses (in defining relative clauses we colloquially prefer who)	I was invited by the professor whom I met at the conference.
that	subject or object pronoun for people, animals and things in defining relative clauses (who or which are also possible)	I don’t like the table that stands in the kitchen.

Subject Pronoun or Object Pronoun? 

Subject and object pronouns cannot be distinguished by their forms - who, which, that are used for subject and object pronouns. You can, however, distinguish them as follows:

If the relative pronoun is followed by a verb, the relative pronoun is a subject pronoun. Subject pronouns must always be used.

the apple which is lying on the table

If the relative pronoun is not followed by a verb (but by a noun or pronoun), the relative pronoun is anobject pronoun. Object pronouns can be dropped in defining relative clauses, which are then called Contact Clauses.

the apple (which) George lay on the table

Relative Adverbs 

A relative adverb can be used instead of a relative pronoun plus preposition. This often makes the sentence easier to understand.

This is the shop in which I bought my bike.
→ This is the shop where I bought my bike.

relative adverb	meaning	use	example
when	in/on which	refers to a time expression	the day when we met him
where	in/at which	refers to a place	the place where we met him
why	for which	refers to a reason	the reason why we met him

Defining Relative Clauses 

Defining relative clauses (also called identifying relative clauses or restrictive relative clauses) give detailed information defining a general term or expression. Defining relative clauses are not put in commas.

Imagine, Tom is in a room with five girls. One girl is talking to Tom and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause defines which of the five girls you mean.

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Defining relative clauses are often used in definitions.

A seaman is someone who works on a ship.

Object pronouns in defining relative clauses can be dropped. (Sentences with a relative clause without the relative pronoun are called Contact Clauses.)

The boy (who/whom) we met yesterday is very nice.

Non-Defining Relative Clauses 

Non-defining relative clauses (also called non-identifying relative clauses or non-restrictive relative clauses) give additional information on something, but do not define it. Non-defining relative clauses are put incommas.

Imagine, Tom is in a room with only one girl. The two are talking to each other and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause is non-defining because in this situation it is obvious which girl you mean.

Do you know the girl, who is talking to Tom?

Note: In non-defining relative clauses, who/which may not be replaced with that.

Object pronouns in non-defining relative clauses must be used.

Jim, who/whom we met yesterday, is very nice.

How to Shorten Relative Clauses? 

Relative clauses with who, which, that as subject pronoun can be replaced with a participle. This makes the sentence shorter and easier to understand.

I told you about the woman who lives next door. – I told you about the woman living next door.

Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? – Do you see the cat lying on the roof?

Exercises on Relative Clauses

Relative Pronouns and Relative Adverbs

• Exercise on Relative Pronouns 
• Subject Pronouns or Object Pronouns? 
• Relative Pronouns – Necessary or not? 
• Relative Pronouns – Necessary or not? 
• Relative Adverbs 

• Relative Pronouns in the Text „Stonehenge“ (who/which) 

Relative Clauses and Contact Clauses

• Relative Clauses - Formation 
• Contact Clauses 
• Definitions with Relative Clauses 
• Relative Clauses - defining or non-defining? 
• Non-Defining Relative Clauses 
• Forming Relative Clauses - defining and non-defining 

• Relative Clauses in the Text „San Francisco“ 

Tests

• Relative Clauses: Level 1 • Level 2 • Level 3 • Level 4

taken from https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses

TAG QUESTIONS

We use tags in spoken English but not in formal written English.

They are not really questions but are a way of asking the other person to make a comment and so keep the conversation open.

Making a tag is very mechanical. To make a tag, use the first auxiliary. If there is no auxiliary, use do, does or did. With a positive sentence, make a negative tag and with a negative sentence, make a positive tag.

• It's beautiful, isn't it?
• He has been, hasn't he?
• You can, can't you?
• It must be, mustn't it?
• You know him, don’t you?
• He finished it, didn't he?
• He will come, won't he?

• It isn't very good, is it?
• It hasn't rained, has it?
• It can't be, can it?
• Jenny doesn't know James, does she?
• They didn't leave, did they?
• He won’t do it, will he?

Notice these:

• There isn't an ATM here, is there?
• Let's have a cup of coffee, shall we?

To reply, use the same auxiliary:

• It's beautiful, isn't it? ~ Yes, it is. I think it's fabulous.
• It isn't very good, is it? ~ No, it isn't. In fact, it's terrible.

Although, the rules are very simple and mechanical, in order to use them easily in conversation, they have to be automatic. So you need to hear and practice them very often.

                                                                         exercise 1

exercise 2

exercise 3

exercise 4

exercise 5

exercise 6

taken from http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/questionstags/menu.php

PASSIVE VOICE

Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake).

Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

• the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
• the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
• the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive 

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Simple Present	Active:	Rita	writes	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is written	by Rita.
Simple Past	Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was written	by Rita.
Present Perfect	Active:	Rita	has written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	has been written	by Rita.
Future I	Active:	Rita	will write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will be written	by Rita.
Hilfsverben	Active:	Rita	can write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	can be written	by Rita.

Examples of Passive 

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Present Progressive	Active:	Rita	is writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is being written	by Rita.
Past Progressive	Active:	Rita	was writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was being written	by Rita.
Past Perfect	Active:	Rita	had written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	had been written	by Rita.
Future II	Active:	Rita	will have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will have been written	by Rita.
Conditional I	Active:	Rita	would write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would be written	by Rita.
Conditional II	Active:	Rita	would have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would have been written	by Rita.

Passive Sentences with Two Objects 

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.

	Subject	Verb	Object 1	Object 2
Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter	to me.
Passive:	A letter	was written	to me	by Rita.
Passive:	I	was written	a letter	by Rita.

.

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.

Example: he says – it is said

Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English,Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.

Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).

Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

Exercises

Exercises on Passive (Form)

• Exercise on Passive with Simple Present 
• Exercise on Passive with Simple Past 
• Exercise on Passive with Present Perfect 
• Exercise on Passive with Future I 

Exercises on Passive (Active → Passive)

• Exercise on Passive with Simple Present 
• Exercise on Passive with Simple Past 
• Exercise on Passive with Present Perfect 
• Exercise on Passive with Future I 
• Exercise on Passive with Auxiliary Verbs 
• Mixed Exercise on Passive with Passive 
• Sentences with 2 Objects (Indirect Object, Personal Passive)  (neu)
• Sentences with 2 Objects (Direct Object)  (neu)
• Personal Passive (verbs of perception)  (neu)

• Exercise on Passive with Present Progressive 
• Exercise on Passive with Past Progressive 
• Exercise on Passive with Past Perfect 
• Exercise on Passive with Future II 
• Exercise on Passive with Conditional I 
• Exercise on Passive with Conditional II 

Exercises on Passive (Active or Passive)

• Exercise on Simple Present 
• Exercise on Simple Past 
• Exercise on Present Perfect 
• Exercise on Future I with will 
• Exercise – The Statue of Liberty  (neu)
• Exercise – Portal Dolmen  (neu)
• Summary – The Fellowship of the Ring, part 2, part 3 

Grammar in Texts

• Show Passive Voice in „The Canterville Ghost“ 
• Grammar Exercise on „Washington, DC“ 
• Show Passive Voice in „History of Snowboarding“ 

Tests on Passiv

• Tenses Active and Passive 

taken from https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive