Talking about Future Plans and Predictions in English

Talking about Plans and Predictions

Asking About Plans	Hiding Plans
What is your plan? What are you going to do ...? What do you intend to do ...? What are you planning to do ...?	I’ve got a particular plan. I can’t tell you now. You’ll see (later). Let’s wait and see.
Stating Plans	Predicting
My plan is .... I’m going to .... I intend to .... I’m planning to ....	Do you think ... will ...? ...will ..., I expect. You will .... It’s going to ....

Note:

The Difference between "WILL" and "BE GOING TO".

• “Will” is often used to express an unplanned and spontaneous decision.
• “Will” is usually used to indicate a future event or action with little certainty.
• “Be going to” is used to express something that is planned in the future.
• “Be going to” is also used to express something that is going to happen in the near future, or it is almost certain to happen.

See also Contrasting Future Forms: "Be Going To" VS "Will" and Perbedaan Penggunaan Bentuk WILL dengan BE GOING TO

Dialogue: Discussing Plans

Two friends are talking about their plans for the weekend.

Lina: What are you going to do this weekend, Yeni?
Yeni: I’ve got a particular plan.
Lina: What is it?
Yeni: Sorry, I can’t tell you now. You’ll see.
Lina: C’mon. What are you planning to do this weekend?
Yeni: Let’s wait and see, I told you. What about you? What’s your plan?
Lina: I think I will watch ‘Rumah Angker’. You know, that horror film.
Yeni: Well, I would watch another movie if I were you.
Lina: Really? But I like horror movies. They’re thrilling.
Yeni: Thrilling? It’s just not worth-seeing.
Lina: Why do you say so?
Yeni: I just don’t see the point of drowning ourselves in the movies about mystics and superstition when we are supposed to be more logical in this era of internet and technology.
Lina: Hey, do you think all movies should be logical? Besides, horror movies are becoming more and more popular each day.
Yeni: That's it. When a movie becomes a hit, a dozen movies with the same genre will follow. Movie producers will keep stuffing viewers with similar movies because they think people like them.
Lina: When a movie becomes popular, it means people like it. What’s wrong with that?
Yeni: Well, film makers will follow the trend. They will tend to make similar movies, very often without paying attention to quality. It will be full of ‘a flash in the pan’.
Lina: What did you say? ‘Something’ in the pan?
Yeni: A flash in the pan, something which enjoys popularity for a short time.
Lina: That’s new for me. Now, you haven't told me about your plan. What do you intend to do this weekend?
Yeni: Make a guess.
Lina: You will go swimming, I expect. You like swimming, right?
Yeni: Not this weekend. Maybe next.
Lina: You will go out of town, I suppose.
Yeni: No. This weekend is my dad's birthday, and we’re planning to give him a surprise party.
Lina: A surprise party? It must be fun.
Yeni: Certainly. I am looking forward to it.

Exercise

Answer these questions.

1. What is the topic of the conversation?
2. What is the most probable relationship between the speakers?
3. What is Lina's plan for the weekend? And what is Yeni's?
4. What does Yeni think about Lina's plan?
5. Rewrite the sentences that indicate the speakers' plan.
6. Rewrite the sentences that indicate the speakers' prediction or guess.

Dive Deeper into the Topic

📘 Contrasting Future Forms: "Be Going To" VS "Will" 📘 Perbedaan Penggunaan "WILL" dan "BE GOING TO" 📘 Dialogue: Making Predictions with Future Continuous Tense 📘 The Simple Future Tense (Will + Infinitive)

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