Confusing Grammar Terms | Will vs Going to With Usage & Examples
Learn the difference between Will or Going to with usage, examples, and some interesting facts. Learn the difference between a will and going to in English with grammar rules, 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 to express future tense but they do not have the same meaning.
Will and Going to Similarity in Usage:
- Both Will and Going to can be used for making future predictions without having a real difference in meaning.
Example:
I think it will be foggy tomorrow. = I think it is going to be foggy tomorrow.
Will and Going to Differences in Usage:
- Will is used to express future actions decided at the moment of speaking while Going to describe future plans decided before the moment of speaking.
Examples:
I‘ll have salad now. (will)
I’m going to visit my aunt next Friday. (going to)
- Will is used to indicating a prediction based on personal opinions or experiences while going to is used to express a prediction based on present evidence.
Examples:
I think United will win the game. (will)
Look at those black clouds. It is going to rain. (going to)
- Will expresses a future fact; going to is used to describe something is about to happen.
Examples:
The sun will rise tomorrow. (will)
Get back! The bomb is going to explode. (going to)
- Will is used to make a promise, an offer, a threat, or a refusal.
Examples:
A promise:
I promise I won’t tell anyone you broke the window.
An offer:
I‘ll take you to the airport tomorrow.
A threat:
I‘ll tell your parents what you did.
A refusal:
No, I won’t cook your dinner, you can cook it yourself.
Difference between Will and Going To
