Travel / Traveling Overseas

Hi.
New question.

I'm going to travel overseas.

I shall (will) travel overseas.

I will be traveling overseas.

I am about to travel overseas.


I'm sobbing because I don't know their difference. :cry:

Why you guys can express the future things with a large variety of ways?


Sir, I'm probably gonna ask you some basic questions related to grammar knowledge later. 5555, I didn't study well when I was in my college, so I deserve that punishment.
I only studied hard from the year of 2001. And because of entering for many sorts of english exams continuously, I've been learing English with a mere aim of passing. So you can find I have made a huge amount of mistakes previously and I'm sure that won't stop.

Xixi, so pls keep patience to your poor student, me.

And I wanna buy an English dictionary which can provide the usage of word and expression for me. Could you give me some proposals, my dear Sir.?

I'm going to travel overseas. (intention)

I shall (will) travel overseas. (promise or prediction)

I will be traveling overseas. (something that will happen not because I plan to, but because it's part of my life)

I am about to travel overseas. (very soon)

;-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eric2004

I'm going to travel overseas.

I shall (will) travel overseas.

I will be traveling overseas.

I am about to travel overseas.

---

The difference in usage has mainly to do with context. It also has to do with the amount of certainty the speaker feels about what is going to happen. With the first one ("I'm going to travel overseas") the speaker is fairly certain that it is going to happen. Also, while the time of departure could be as much as a year away, it could be within the next week. The second one ("I shall (will) travel overseas"), I think, expresses less certainty, and the time of possible departure is probably more distant than the other one. The third one ("I will be traveling overseas") expresses great certainty, and the speaker is probably fairly certain of his destination. (Perhaps his travel plans are work-related.) The fourth one ("I am about to travel overseas") not only expresses certainty, but also the departure time is probably qute soon.

:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eric2004

Why you guys can express the future things with a large variety of ways?

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• Why are you able to talk about the future in such variety of ways?

I don't really know why, but it's wonderful, isn't it? (There are a couple of more ways to say that besides the ones you mentioned.)

:wink:

There are many possible futures, and fewer pasts. ;-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eric2004

And I wanna buy an English dictionary which can provide the usage of word and expression for me. Could you give me some proposals, my dear Sir.?

---

The Random House College Dictionary is a good buy. Perhaps Tdol or Cas will have some ideas along that line.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eric2004

Hi.
New question.

I'm going to travel overseas.

I shall (will) travel overseas.

I will be traveling overseas.

I am about to travel overseas.


I'm sobbing because I don't know their difference. :cry:

Why you guys can express the future things with a large variety of ways?


Sir, I'm probably gonna ask you some basic questions related to grammar knowledge later. 5555, I didn't study well when I was in my college, so I deserve that punishment.
I only studied hard from the year of 2001. And because of entering for many sorts of english exams continuously, I've been learing English with a mere aim of passing. So you can find I have made a huge amount of mistakes previously and I'm sure that won't stop.

Xixi, so pls keep patience to your poor student, me.

And I wanna buy an English dictionary which can provide the usage of word and expression for me. Could you give me some proposals, my dear Sir.?

---

I would suggest the Cambridge Advanced Learners' Dictionary, Cambridge Dictionary of International English, Longman Dictionary of American English or the Longman Advanced Learners' Dictionary.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/wordoftheday.asp

Cobuild do good dictionaries, too. On CD, I really like the Oxford Shorter, which isn't much more than a decent book dictionary and has a great deal in it. ;-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eric2004

Hi. I've a new question. Why do native speakers express the future in a variety of ways?


I'm going to travel overseas.

I shall (will) travel overseas.

I will be traveling overseas.

I am about to travel overseas.


:cry: I'm sobbing because I don't know the difference.

---

1. I will travel. (determined; certainty)
2. I am going to travel. (determined; intended plan)

Both 1. and 2. express the speaker's determination; They differ in that 'will' expresses a certainty, whereas 'going to' cannot express that.

Compare:
I am going to travel, certainly. (Not OK --it's an intention)
I will travel, certainly. (OK --it's a certainty)

3. I will be traveling.
=> will be -ing is used to give information about another event, to show what will be happening in the background. For example,

When you get home, I will be traveling. (main event in focus)
When you get home, I will be sleeping.

Compare:

Sam: What are you doing Friday?
Pat: I will travel. (determination)
Pat: I am going to travel. (intention)
Pat: I will be traveling. ('traveling' is something I will be doing in the background of my trip)
Pat: I will travel. (emphasis on I means, strong determination)

4. I am about to travel.
=> about to is called the inceptive. It denotes the beginning of action; the action is just about to begin, e.g. I am about to vomit.)

Consider,

Sam: What are you doing next Friday?
Pat: I am about to travel (Not OK. Next Friday is too far in the future)
Pat: I am about to find out from my boss. Just a minute.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eric2004

Teachers , I'll probably ask you some basic questions related to grammar knowledge later. I didn't study well when I was in my college, so I'm paying for it now .

I started taking it seriously in 2001. And because I am contantly taking all sorts of E nglish exams, I've been learn ing English with a mere aim of passing. So you'll notice I have made a huge amount of mistakes previously and I'm sure there will be more . So please have patience with me.

Also, I would like to buy an English dictionary which provides the usage and expression notes. Could you give me some suggestions , my dear teachers?

---

I like The Oxford Dictionary of Current English, published in paperback.

The best online dictionaries are OneLook and American Heritage.

:D

Sir Ron.

1, I'm fearing one thing that foreigners would discriminate Chinese. Sigh, the reason is different, but I just don't wanna ask for trouble when I'm in a foreign country. Yep, American freedom is very attractive for me because I hate living in a confined area. If I don't hurt the public, if I don't want to say or act what I don't want to do, why I must be punished?
For example, if you don't praise communists in China, you will get no permission to enter into university or get Master degree. Or if you criticize them, you will certainly be vanished in this world. Nobody knows what happend to you.

2, Immigration policy of American is not esay for Chinese, I don't know why. I think Bush should have forbidden Arab rather than Chinese. I only guess one reason that some spies of China are gonna be American. But they're only few and your government should know that. I don't think real Chinese who wanna get "Green Card" are gonna welcome China government.

3,Sigh, the truth of the Tianenmen Event (4 June) has been hidden. There were thousands of Chinese students dead. They were killed by China army. That's a slaughter. Unfortunately, from then on, chinese college students could be merely allowed to vent their opinions towards "Patriotism" which means they only can criticize foreign countries. Sometimes China government would intentionally stir up it because it can devert chinese attention from civil corruption and authoritarian policy to "Patriotism". And finally, there are a great many "shit youth" emerged in China, who curse the US, the Japan, the Britain and the Korea---any stronger country than China---. Those young people also curse people in China who don't agree with them like me. I'm called by them a traitor.

There is an example. One famous actress in China, Wei Zhao, was pour a bag of shit by one "patriot" just because she had got a picture in which she wore a clothing with a pattern of the sun, similar with Japanese national flag. Until now, she's still named by many Chinese a traitor. Sigh, what kind of nation can have what kind of citizen.

So Chinese "shit youth" are becoming the new "Nazi".