Do you need some fun and creative future tense grammar activities for your ESL students? Read on for some fabulous ideas to help your students use the future tense(s) in communicative and engaging ways.
First, students need to know that there are four ways to express the future in English:
Ways to Express the Future in English
1. Be Going To
We use be going to to express predictions, expectations, or guesses. For example: We’re going to Jamaica in December.
Be going to is also used when a future event is certain to happen because there is evidence for it. For example: Look at those clouds! It is going to rain soon. (The clouds are evidence that it is going to rain.)
We use be going to for intentions – things you hope or intend to do in the future. For example: I am healthy. I am going to live to be 100 years old!
2. Will
Like be going to, we use will to express predictions, expectations, or guesses. For example: I think that people will live longer in the future.
3. The Present Progressive for Future
We use the present progressive to express planned or definite future events. A specific time in the future is usually mentioned. For example: I’m going to Seattle on Saturday.
4. The Simple Present for Future
We use the simple present to express events that are scheduled and/or on a timetable. We usually mention a specific future time. There are certain verbs used in this way: open, close, begin, end, be, arrive, leave, start, finish, come and return. Example: Our plane leaves at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Future Tense Grammar Activities for ESL
Be Going To and Will
- Weather Forecast: Show students the local weather forecast for the weekend. Have them discuss or write paragraphs about what the weather will be like and what their plans are given the weather forecast. They will use be going to and will in their discussions/paragraphs.
- The Future of a Picture: Gather a set of photos of people in interesting situations and have students guess what is about to happen using be going to and will. For example, show a room full of children who made a gigantic mess, a photo of a person falling off of a ladder, or a person with a shopping cart filled with merchandise.
The Present Progressive and the Simple Present
- Describing your schedule: Give students an example schedule with notes about pre-planned events. Then have them describe the schedule using the simple present for future and present progressive for future. Then have students fill out their schedules for the following week and describe what their plans are using these verb tenses.
- Describing a celebrity’s schedule: Do the same activity as above but let them write next week’s schedule of a celebrity of their choice. Encourage creativity!
Try these future tense grammar activities in your class today!
For no-prep future tense grammar lessons, click the image below!
For tips and ideas for teaching the simple past, check out this blog post.
