be going to

BE GOING TO 

The structure be going to is mainly used to talk about plans and intentions, or to make predictions based on present evidence. It is most commonly used in conversational English.

In very informal spoken English, going to is sometimes shortened to gonna.

STRUCTURE:	The present continuous tense of the verb to go + the full infinitive.
	subject	be	going	full infinitive

	I	am	going	to paint	the door.
	You	are	going	to love	this book.
	Jack	is	going	to buy	a new computer.
	It	is	going	to rain	soon.
	We	are	going	to visit	a museum.
	They	are	going	to accept	our invitation.

PLANS and INTENTIONS :

Be going to is used to talk about plans and intentions, usually when the decision has already been made.

Emma is going to share an apartment with Melanie.
Pedro is going to revise his English all evening.
I'm going to watch the match on television.

Future Tense (will)

Future Simple
Affirmative	Negative		Interrogative
	Long Form	Contracted Form
I will go	I will not go	I won't go	Will I go?
You will go	You will not go	You won't go	Will you go?
He/she/it will go	He/she/it will not go	He/she/it won't go	Will he/she/it go?
We will go	We will not go	We won't go	Will we go?
You will go	You will not go	You won't go	Will you go?
They will go	They will not go	They won't go	Will they go?
Future Continuous
Affirmative	Negative		Interrogative
	Long Form	Contracted Form
I will be going	I will not be going	I won't be going	Will I be going?
You will be going	You will not be going	You won't be going	Will you be going?
He/she/it will be going	He/she/it will not be going	He/she/it won't be going	Will he/she/it be going?
We will be going	We will not be going	We won't be going	Will  we be going?
You will be going	You will not be going	You won't be going	Will you be going?
They will be going	They will not be going	They won't be going	Will they be going?

• The future simple is used :
  
   - for predictions : what you think will happen or what is certain to happen.

Conditional Structures

Conditionals are sentences with two clauses: an ‘if' clause and a main clause.
Four basic conditional structures are used in English.

• Zero Conditional
• First Conditional
• Second Conditional
• Third Conditional

Zero Conditional	What is always true or usually happens, or what is advised in this situation.
If	+Present Simple	+ Present Simple
If	you have a ticket	you go straight in.
If	you stand in the rain	you get wet.
If	you see an accident	call an ambulance.
The 'if'  in the above sentences can usually be replaced by 'when' without changing the meaning.
First Conditional	Something that will possibly happen in the future.
If	+Present Simple	+Will + Infinitive
If	I see an accident	I will call a doctor.
If	it rains tomorrow	the picnic will be cancelled.
If	you make an apple tart	Dad will eat it.
Note : Sometimes we use can or may instead of will. For example :  If you finish your vegetables, you can have a dessert.

Present and Past Tense

Present Simple	Routine, habits, repetitive actions : I play tennis every Saturday. Tastes : I like chocolate, I hate doing homework. Facts : The sun rises in the east.
Present Continuous	Continuous actions :  - at the time of speaking I am reading this explanation now. - around now : I am learning English this year. Planned future arrangements : I am visiting Rome next Monday.
Present Perfect	Continuous form: An action started in the past that continues today : I have been learning English since September. Simple form :  The completed or finished part of that action : We have revised grammar rules and verb tenses.
Past Simple	Finished actions at a specific finished time in the past. Last year I bought a new car. I saw your dog 5 minutes ago.
Past Continuous	Continuous actions A continuous action at a specific time in the past : I was having breakfast at 7 o'clock this morning. A continuous action taking place when another brief event occurred : I was watching television when the phone rang.
Past Perfect	Continuous form: A past continuous action prior to another event in the past: I had been driving for 3 hours before I stopped. Simple form :  A completed action before another action in the past : I had finished the book before I gave it to Tom.

Present Perfect vs Past Perfect

PRESENT  PERFECT The present perfect is used to refer to actions which take place in an unfinished time period up to the time of speaking, and allows the speaker to link past actions or situations to the present time.  Continuous form :  Actions started in the past which continue until now. I have been reading this book since last Monday. Simple form : The completed or finished part of a continuous action.  I have read the first three chapters of the book. Events that have just occurred, with no specific time mentioned. A plane has just crashed near the coast. A past action with a result in the present. I've broken my arm.  I can't drive. Experiences and accomplishments up to now. I'm a writer. I've written 5 novels and several short stories.

PAST PERFECT

If we are already talking about the past, the past perfect is used to to go back to an earlier past time,  to refer to something that had already happened or had been happening. Continuous form : Continuous actions entirely situated in the past. Paul had been revising his English when the postman rang the doorbell. Simple form  : .Actions which took place before a specific time in the past. When Tom called at 8 am, Paul had already left for school.