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Old 04-Oct-2004, 03:27
moeen49
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Default Is it correct?

Hi,

Is it correct to say:

That's what's going to happen.

Thanks,
Ali
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Old 04-Oct-2004, 06:42
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Tomasz Klimkiewicz
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Hi, moeen49, hello everyone,

The sentence sounds O.K. to me. I'm not sure which element causes your doubts. Contractions are acceptable in informal English, so, assuming we know what the pronoun 'that' refers to (should be clear from the context), the sentence is correct.

As regards the usage of 'going to', we must remember that it is used not only as an expression of intention (chiefly with the first person) but also as 'prediction based on evidence'.

Example: you're watching a football match and your favourite team are playing exceptionally badly, then you may say 'Geez, playing like that they're surely going to lose...' (of course they have no intention of losing the game, but the opponent is just superior in all aspects).

All in all, I personally wouldn't question the correctness of your example, but let's wait for a native speaker to pop in with a reply.

Regards to all, Tomasz
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Old 04-Oct-2004, 12:10
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Welcome, Moeen.

Sounds fine to me as informal English-- and I've probably said it many times to my son! Your explanation's good, too, Tomasz.
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Old 04-Oct-2004, 18:42
moeen49
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Thank you for suggestions.

"That's what's going to happen" is contracted version of "That *is* what *is* going to happen".

The reason that I asked about that sentence is it had two "is". Is that okay?

Thank you again,
Ali
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Old 04-Oct-2004, 21:26
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With this structure, the two 'is's are fine--one is the main verb and the other is the auxiliary verb of the dependent clause.
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