[General] will / be going to

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JarekSteliga

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I absolutely do not understand how the use of "will" instead of "be going to" and vice versa may sound unnatural or lead to misunderstanding (where "will" is used to speak about the future)

I hope the author of this article (Ways of expressing the future Gramorak's Blog | A haven for grammar bunnies) will not mind if I use some of the examples found there.

as per example can we absolutely not say?
(to mean the same and sound OK)

Look at those clouds. It’s going to rain.
Look at those clouds. It will rain
George is a terrible driver. He’s going to have an accident one day. .... He will have ....
We are going to meet George at the stadium We will meet George ...
Pat is going to fly to Phuket next week Pat will fly to ...
I am going to meet my wife at the pub this evening. I will meet my wife ...
It’s going to snow. It will snow
Emma is going to fly to London next week. Emma will fly to ...
There will be hotels on the Moon within the next 50 years. There are going to be ....
The afternoon will be bright and sunny ... The afternoon is going to be ...
I’ll carry your bag for you. I am going to carry your bag ...
At 5 o’clock tomorrow George will be driving down the M1. ... George is going to be driving ...
I’ll see her tomorrow; I’ll ask her. I am going to see her ....


 

bhaisahab

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I absolutely do not understand how the use of "will" instead of "be going to" and vice versa may sound unnatural or lead to misunderstanding (where "will" is used to speak about the future)

I hope the author of this article (Ways of expressing the future Gramorak's Blog | A haven for grammar bunnies) will not mind if I use some of the examples found there.

as per example can we absolutely not say?
(to mean the same and sound OK)

Look at those clouds. It’s going to rain.
Look at those clouds. It will rain
George is a terrible driver. He’s going to have an accident one day. .... He will have ....
We are going to meet George at the stadium We will meet George ...
Pat is going to fly to Phuket next week Pat will fly to ...
I am going to meet my wife at the pub this evening. I will meet my wife ...
It’s going to snow. It will snow
Emma is going to fly to London next week. Emma will fly to ...
There will be hotels on the Moon within the next 50 years. There are going to be ....
The afternoon will be bright and sunny ... The afternoon is going to be ...
I’ll carry your bag for you. I am going to carry your bag ...
At 5 o’clock tomorrow George will be driving down the M1. ... George is going to be driving ...
I’ll see her tomorrow; I’ll ask her. I am going to see her ....



Some of them are OK with either. With others it depends on the context.
 

5jj

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I absolutely do not understand how the use of "will" instead of "be going to" and vice versa may sound unnatural or lead to misunderstanding (where "will" is used to speak about the future)

I hope the author of this article (Ways of expressing the future Gramorak's Blog | A haven for grammar bunnies) will not mind if I use some of the examples found there.
I don't mind at all. You didn't have to go to my blog. Most of the points are here in this site. -I am pretty sure that I did not say that using one form instead of the other may lead to misunderstanding - 5jj/Gramorak.
as per example can we absolutely not say?
(to mean the same and sound OK)

Look at those clouds. It’s going to rain.
Look at those clouds. It will rain
George is a terrible driver. He’s going to have an accident one day. .... He will have ....
We are going to meet George at the stadium We will meet George ...
Pat is going to fly to Phuket next week Pat will fly to ...
I am going to meet my wife at the pub this evening. I will meet my wife ...
It’s going to snow. It will snow
Emma is going to fly to London next week. Emma will fly to ...
There will be hotels on the Moon within the next 50 years. There are going to be ....
The afternoon will be bright and sunny ... The afternoon is going to be ...
I’ll carry your bag for you. I am going to carry your bag ...
At 5 o’clock tomorrow George will be driving down the M1. ... George is going to be driving ...
I’ll see her tomorrow; I’ll ask her. I am going to see her ....
If you read the article more carefully, you'll see that I say explicitly that there is very often more than one way of expressing the future naturally in most situations. I also say explicitly that sometimes there is no practical difference in meaning between some of the ways. Having said that, in most of the ones you have chosen above, the alternative you have proposed does suggest that the speaker is viewing the situation in a slightly different way.

I am not going to go through the whole list now. If you pick one sentence at a time in which you disagree with my analysis, then I'll look at it here.
 

SoothingDave

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I also say explicitly that sometimes there is no
practical difference in meaning between some of the ways.


I would say most of the time there isn't.
 

5jj

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I don't agree, but that is probably a matter for a separate thread.
 

JarekSteliga

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I don't mind at all. You didn't have to go to my blog. Most of the points are here in this site. -I am pretty sure that I did not say that using one form instead of the other may lead to misunderstanding - 5jj/Gramorak.If you read the article more carefully, you'll see that I say explicitly that there is very often more than one way of expressing the future naturally in most situations. I also say explicitly that sometimes there is no practical difference in meaning between some of the ways. Having said that, in most of the ones you have chosen above, the alternative you have proposed does suggest that the speaker is viewing the situation in a slightly different way.

I am not going to go through the whole list now. If you pick one sentence at a time in which you disagree with my analysis, then I'll look at it here.

Thank you. I will read your articles in this site as well as in your blog.

Since as you say, in the examples chosen by myself, the alternatives I have proposed suggest that the speaker is viewing the situation in a slightly different way, I do not think I am up to it, to discuss these slight differences. It is my belief that students should first grapple with major issues before they proceed to the minor ones. :-? Unless you are willing to point out to some glaring inaccuracies as regards this topic, I intend to use "will" and "be going to" interchangeably and to employ my energy for learning English where it is more urgently needed.
 

5jj

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I intend to use "will" and "be going to" interchangeably and to employ my energy for learning English where it is more urgently needed.
A: George has just rung in sick. What can we do about his phonology class at ten?
B: Ten? I'm free then. I'll take it.


A I said George could take the day off tomorrow, but I forgot about his phonology class.
B: It's OK. George called me earlier. I'm taking/going to take it.

In the first of these short dialogues, B is offering to take the class. In the second, s/he is indicating that s/he has arranged to take it. 'Will' and 'BE going to/present progressive' are not interchangeable with the same meaning.
 
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