"will" vs "be going to" in an if-clause

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KEN JPN

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Retired English Teacher
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Japanese
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Philippines
Hi, I'd like to know the difference between:

(1) If you'
re late for the meeting, please call me.
(2) If you'
ll be late for the meeting, please call me.
(3) If you'
re going to be late for the meeting, please call me.

All these sentences are correct, but the meaning is different.
In my understanding:

(1) means "When you are already late, please call me."
If I call someone if/when I am already late, it is too late.
Maybe this is used when I have to call someone to report the fact that I was late for the meeting.

(2) means "If you think/notice that you will not be able to be in time for the meeting, please let me know in advance."

Then, what is the difference from (3)??

Thanks in advance.
 

SlickVic9000

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(Not a Teacher)

Your assessments are accurate for the first two sentences. The third sentence implies that you weren't anticipating being late and something happened or came up short notice that caused a delay. Basically, she's saying if, for instance, you get into a wreck on the way to the meeting, you should make sure to call her and let her know.
 

KEN JPN

Junior Member
Joined
May 27, 2012
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
Japanese
Home Country
Japan
Current Location
Philippines
(Not a Teacher)

Your assessments are accurate for the first two sentences. The third sentence implies that you weren't anticipating being late and something happened or came up short notice that caused a delay. Basically, she's saying if, for instance, you get into a wreck on the way to the meeting, you should make sure to call her and let her know.

Thank you very much for your comment again.

Let me confirm my understanding here again.

(a) It will rain tomorrow.
(b) It
is going to rain tomorrow.

Simple Future Tense will in Sentence (a):
This shows that when tomorrow comes, it will rain.
As the time flows, a certain future will automatically come.
The speaker might think so after watching a weather forecast on TV or weather report on a newspaper.

"Be going to" in Sentence (b):
The speaker judges from some circumstance or how things are going on, like "The sky is dark. No stars can be seen. The humidity is going up. So, judging from those circumstances, the weather seems to be rainy tomorrow. Things are on the way to a rainy day"

So,
"If you'll be late, call me"
can be used, for example, when I am on the train to attend a meeting.
It is 9:45AM now, and the meeting will start at 10:00AM.
I know it takes 30 minutes for this train to reach the destination.
So, I will automatically be late as the time flows. I have to inform that I will be late for the meeting.

"If you're going to be late, call me"
can be natural to use, when I am driving a car on the way to the meeting, it is 9:30AM and the meeting will start at 10:00AM, I know it usually takes only 15 minutes to my company if only there is no traffic. However, I happened to be in an accidental traffic jam due to a car accident. I am not sure if I can be in time for the meeting. It might take more than 30 minutes judging from the traffic. So, I have to call to inform with the possibility of my arriving late.

Correct?
 
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