You'll/ You're going to end up feeling depressed.

[Ashraful Haque]

"All your friends will join/will be joining their father's business after college. And what will you/are you going to do? You don't study, your father doesn't have a business and it's not like he'll/he's going to help you start a business either. You'll/you're going to end up feeling depressed and broke if you continue like this."

I've highlighted my problem I face every time when talking about the future. It's like I can't decide which one to stick to. To be specific my questions are:

1) Do both of the versions mean the same thing?
2) When having a conversation how do I decide which one to use?
2) Should I just stick to any one of them when having a conversation or is it okay to mix them up?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

"All your friends will join/will be joining their fathers' businesses after college. And what will you/are you going to do? You don't study, your father doesn't have a business, and it's not like he'll/he's going to help you start a business either. You'll/you're going to end up feeling depressed and broke if you continue like this."

I've highlighted my problem I face every time when talking about the future. It's like I can't decide which one to stick to. To be specific my questions are:

1) Do both of the versions mean the same thing?

For informal conversation, yes. I can't speak to the fine points of grammar.

2) When having a conversation how do I decide which one to use?

Grammarians might have better advice than mine, but to me it's mostly just a matter of personal style — like deciding whether to say skillet or frying pan. So I'd just use whatever is comfortable and spend a few more years listening to native English speakers.

2) Should I just stick to any one of them when having a conversation or is it okay to mix them up?

As far as I'm concerned, it's fine to mix them. Again, a grammarian might have useful advice.

I can see why this is confusing to you. It's a good question.

 

[jutfrank]

I'm going to say almost the exact opposite of everything written in post #2.

1) No. It depends though what you mean by 'mean the same thing'. I think it's much better to say that they mean different things.
2) You simply have to learn how each future form is used. The problem at the moment is that you haven't done that. It's nothing to do with style.
3) No and no. You should use the one that best fits what you mean.

(By the way, Charlie Bernstein, grammarians have nothing to say about this. This is a question for an EFL teacher.)

 

[emsr2d2]

And to add to the confusion, I'll tell you that a lot of native speakers would use both versions, sometimes mixing them up within the same statement. For example, it's not impossible to imagine this from a native speaker.

"All your friends will be joining their father's businesses after college. And what are you going to do? You don't study, your father doesn't have a business and it's not like he's going to help you start a business either. You'll end up feeling depressed and broke if you continue like this."

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

(By the way, Charlie Bernstein, grammarians have nothing to say about this. This is a question for an EFL teacher.)

Absolutely. It's all yours.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

And to add to the confusion, I'll tell you that a lot of native speakers would use both versions, sometimes mixing them up within the same statement. For example, it's not impossible to imagine this from a native speaker.

"All your friends will be joining their father's businesses after college. And what are you going to do? You don't study, your father doesn't have a business and it's not like he's going to help you start a business either. You'll end up feeling depressed and broke if you continue like this."

Thank you. This is what I wanted to know actually. Since I'm learning conversational English and not written English, I'm happy as long as I sound natural/idiomatic.
So you're saying if I mix them up in conversations native speakers who hate me won't immediately start laughing at me? :lol:

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you. This is what I wanted to know actually. Since I'm learning conversational English and not written English, I'm happy as long as I sound natural/idiomatic.
So you're saying if I mix them up in conversations native speakers who hate me won't immediately start laughing at me? :lol:

For a start, any native speaker who laughs at anyone trying to speak English as a second language is an idiot. Many of them can't string together even the most basic sentence in anything other than English so they have no right to criticise anyone else. I would like to think that they wouldn't. (Why are you having conversations with people who hate you?!)

In general, mixing them up is absolutely fine. There are instances where one or the other sounds unnatural, but it really doesn't matter too much as long as the main meaning is still getting across. For example, if I asked someone "What are you doing this evening?" and they said "I will go to the cinema", I would understand perfectly what they meant. Would "will go" sound unnatural? Absolutely. Native speakers would say "I'm going to the cinema" or "I'm going to go and see a film" or something similar, but the "will go" version gets the meaning across perfectly.

There are times when there is an actual difference in meaning. For example, in questions.

Will you come shopping with me on Saturday? > Are you prepared/willing to come shopping with me on Saturday?
Are you going to come shopping with me on Saturday? > I'm going shopping on Saturday and I want to know if you plan to come with me.

 

[jutfrank]

Grammarians have a great deal to say about how the future is expressed in English.

Right but they don't say anything about how to use or teach it.

 

[jutfrank]

They may not give instructions on how to use various tenses/aspects to express the future, but they certainly attempt to explain how these forms are used by native speakers.

Right but they don't say anything about how to use or teach it.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

I'm going to say almost the exact opposite of everything written in post #2.

1) No. It depends though what you mean by 'mean the same thing'. I think it's much better to say that they mean different things.
2) You simply have to learn how each future form is used. The problem at the moment is that you haven't done that. It's nothing to do with style.
3) No and no. You should use the one that best fits what you mean.

(By the way, Charlie Bernstein, grammarians have nothing to say about this. This is a question for an EFL teacher.)

Can you please suggest me a book or something to learn about this?

 

[Ashraful Haque]

For a start, any native speaker who laughs at anyone trying to speak English as a second language is an idiot. Many of them can't string together even the most basic sentence in anything other than English so they have no right to criticise anyone else. I would like to think that they wouldn't. (Why are you having conversations with people who hate you?!)

In general, mixing them up is absolutely fine. There are instances where one or the other sounds unnatural, but it really doesn't matter too much as long as the main meaning is still getting across. For example, if I asked someone "What are you doing this evening?" and they said "I will go to the cinema", I would understand perfectly what they meant. Would "will go" sound unnatural? Absolutely. Native speakers would say "I'm going to the cinema" or "I'm going to go and see a film" or something similar, but the "will go" version gets the meaning across perfectly.

There are times when there is an actual difference in meaning. For example, in questions.

Will you come shopping with me on Saturday? > Are you prepared/willing to come shopping with me on Saturday?
Are you going to come shopping with me on Saturday? > I'm going shopping on Saturday and I want to know if you plan to come with me.

Thank you for the answer once again. This is what I've learned from the book 'English Grammar in Use.' We use 'will' to announce a new decision and 'going to' when the decision was already made.



By the way I just came across another one of these question. I was discussing about 'emotional intelligence' and said:
- "If you can't control your own emotions, how will you/are you going to understand the people around you?"

I'm guessing both versions work equally well here although for some unknown reason I used 'how will you.'

 

[Ashraful Haque]

That is sometimes true.

Thank you very much once again. Please let me know what you think about this:
- "If you can't control your own emotions, how will you/are you going to understand the people around you?"

I'm guessing both versions work equally well here although for some unknown reason I used 'how will you.'

 

[GoesStation]

Please let me know what you think about this:
- "If you can't control your own emotions, how will you/are you going to understand the people around you?"

I'm guessing both versions work equally well here although for some unknown reason I used 'how will you.'

"Going to" is more likely there. You're wondering how your interlocutor will perform an ongoing, continuous task, so the continuous mood is more natural.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

"Going to" is more likely there. You're wondering how your interlocutor will perform an ongoing, continuous task, so the continuous mood is more natural.

But would I sound unnatural/awakward if I said 'will?'

 

[GoesStation]

But would I sound unnatural/awakward if I said 'will?'

It would be fine in many contexts.