Will vs. Going to: Differences Between Will and Going to

Will vs. going to! Learn the difference between will and going to in English with grammar rules, video, and example sentences. In this section, we are going to be looking at which times you will need to use ‘will’ and which times you will need to use ‘going to.’ This will make your speech and writing sound much more fluid and fluent.

Will vs. Going to

When talking about an event that is going to happen in the future, there is more than one possibility. Most often, you will use the phrases ‘will’ or ‘going to’ in order to refer to an upcoming event, but sometimes students of the English language can become confused over which one to use and when.

In English grammar, both “Will” and “Be Going to” are used toexpress future tensebut they do not have the same meaning.

Will and Going to Similarity in Usage

• BothWillandGoing tocan be used for making future predictions without having a real difference in meaning.

Example:

I think itwillbe foggy tomorrow. = I think it isgoing tobe foggy tomorrow.

Will and Going to Differences in Usage

• Willis used to express future actions decided at the moment of speaking whileGoing todescribes future plans decided before the moment of speaking.

Examples:

I‘llhave salad now.(will)

I’m going tovisit my aunt next Friday.(going to)

• Willis used to indicate apredictionbased on personal opinions or experiences whilegoing tois used to express a prediction based on present evidence.

Examples:

I think Unitedwillwin the game.(will)

Look at those black clouds. Itis going torain.(going to)

• Willexpresses a future fact;going to用于描述一些即将发生。

Examples:

The sun will rise tomorrow.(will)

Get back! The bomb is going to explode.(going to)

• Willis used to make a promise, an offer, a threat or refusal.

Examples:

A promise:

I promise Iwon’ttell anyone you broke the window.

An offer:

I‘lltake you to the airport tomorrow.

A threat:

I‘lltell your parents what you did.

A refusal:

No, Iwon’tcook your dinner, you can cook it yourself.

Will vs. Going to Chart | Pictures

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Will vs. Going to | Video

12 Verb Tenses in English

Learn all (12) tenses in English with useful grammar rules, examples and ESL worksheets.

Verb Tenses Chart

• Present Simple Tense
• Present Continuous Tense
• Present Perfect Tense
• Present Perfect Continuous Tense
• Past Simple Tense
• Past Continuous Tense
• Past Perfect Tense
• Past Perfect Continuous Tense
• Simple Future Tense
• Future Continuous Tense
• Future Perfect Tense
• Future Perfect Continuous

Last Updated on February 27, 2023