Will & (be) going to
Future with present simple
The only time we use present simple to talk about the future is when we are sure the event will happen in the future, such as:
- Events that were planned in advance. Think of classes, meetings or flight schedules.
- Events that happen regularly (or are predictable in some way), like someone’s birthday or restaurant opening hours.
For example:
- The restaurant opens at 14:30 in the afternoon.
- We have English class tomorrow morning.
- The train leaves at 10:46.
Shall
Lastly, aside from will and (be) going to, sometimes English-speaking people also use the word "shall" to talk about the future. Let’s see one way we can use it.
Shall can be used to make a suggestion, such as offering to do something for someone. You can say for example:
- Shall I make you a cup of coffee?
- Shall I buy the tickets?
But you can also use shall to suggest possibilities (things that could be done).
- Shall we go to the arcade this Friday?
- Shall we invite our friends for dinner?
For now, this is what you’ll have to remember when using “shall” to make a suggestion:
- Make it a question.
- You can only use it in two ways: Shall I ...? or Shall we ...?
- The verb that comes after I or we is in simple form, for example: Shall we take a taxi home?