[Grammar] Progressive form - am working, will be working, or going to work

[DANAU]

Hi.

I wrote the three sentences below and would like to know if they are all acceptable.

1. I am working tomorrow. (present progressive)

2. I will be working tomorrow. (future progressive)

3. I am going to work tomorrow. (present progressive)


Personally, I feel that sentence 1 and 2 can be used interchangeably to mean the same thing.
But, sentence 3 seems to be more appropriate if I re-phrase it as "I am going to work on the new project tomorrow."
It will sound better if I add the phrase "the new project" but I do not understand the logic behind.
Or, can all the three sentences be used interchangeably to mean the same thing?

Please help to explain.

 

[DANAU]

You may find this article interesting: https://www.usingenglish.com/articles/ways-expressing-future-in-english.html

Yes Piscean, it is interesting and more important I got my answer below.

"Important Note.
In many sentences, several of the forms can be used perfectly naturally. The final subconscious choice of form is made by speakers at the moment of speaking, and depends on the context of situation as they see it at that moment. Do not think that there is one, and only one, ‘correct’ form in any given situation."

Point 2 - "When the present evidence is an arrangement, then there is, practically speaking, no real difference in meaning between the present progressive and BE + going to."

So, I can draw the conclusion that all my three sentences are acceptable. Is that true?

 

[jutfrank]

Personally, I feel that sentence 1 and 2 can be used interchangeably to mean the same thing.

Just assume that no two different forms can ever be used interchangeably. Your aim should be to distinguish the differences.

And don't concern yourself primarily with meaning. Think about usage first.

 

[DANAU]

Just assume that no two different forms can ever be used interchangeably. Your aim should be to distinguish the differences.

And don't concern yourself primarily with meaning. Think about usage first.

Hi.

I have added further context as follows. Can please let me know if one of the sentence would be preferred over another.

1. I am working tomorrow so I will not be able to join you for movie. (present progressive)

2. I will be working tomorrow so I will not be able to join you for movie. (future progressive)

3. I am going to work tomorrow so I will not be able to join you for movie. (present progressive)

 

[jutfrank]

What form is preferred all depends on the usage. I'm going to keep repeating this until you start to understand.

What's the usage here? Do you imagine writing a text message to you friend? Tell us exactly what the situation is, and exactly what you want to do, and we'll tell you the best way to say it.

 

[DANAU]

What form is preferred all depends on the usage. I'm going to keep repeating this until you start to understand.

What's the usage here? Do you imagine writing a text message to you friend? Tell us exactly what the situation is, and exactly what you want to do, and we'll tell you the best way to say it.

Hi jutfrank.

I would say the usage is more conversational. Yes, you can imagine it as a text message that I wanted to send to my friend.

Honestly, I am still confused with the meaning of usage. It would be very helpful if you can share with me examples of how different usage
can affect which is the best to use.

 

[jutfrank]

Well, this is a very good example to illustrate what I mean by use, so let's stick with it. You have now explained the situation, so we know:

1) The message. This is what the speaker wants to do. This is very important to consider. It is very useful to understand that when we use a piece of language, it is normally because we want to change the world in some way, however small.

In this case, the message is to inform your friend that you reject his invitation, giving a reason for the rejection.

2) Who is speaking and who is listening. These two things are very important to think about when considering use.

In this case, the speaker is you and the listener is your friend. You have a friendship relation, so we should use vocabulary appropriate to that relationship.

3) The medium. This is the way that the language is communicated. In this case, it is a text message.

In this case, that means we're going to use conversational (i.e., 'spoken') English).

4) The relevant context. This is often the language that comes directly before the utterance in question. For example, if the utterance is an answer, then the question would be relevant context.

In this case, although you didn't give any in post #9, we can imagine that your friend has previously sent you a text message, inviting you to his house to watch a movie. This invitation may or may not have been in the form of a question, which is very important, because we tend to answer questions directly, which affects very much the language we use.


All four of these points are very important (especially number 1) when considering use, so you should think about all of them every time you ask us about how to say something. A speaker must bear in mind all four points when deciding which is the correct way to say what he wants to say.

Is that all clear? Could you tell us a little more about the relevant context?

 

[DANAU]

Well, this is a very good example to illustrate what I mean by use, so let's stick with it. You have now explained the situation, so we know:

1) The message. This is what the speaker wants to do. This is very important to consider. It is very useful to understand that when we use a piece of language, it is normally because we want to change the world in some way, however small.

In this case, the message is to inform your friend that you reject his invitation, giving a reason for the rejection.

2) Who is speaking and who is listening. These two things are very important to think about when considering use.

In this case, the speaker is you and the listener is your friend. You have a friendship relation, so we should use vocabulary appropriate to that relationship.

3) The medium. This is the way that the language is communicated. In this case, it is a text message.

In this case, that means we're going to use conversational (i.e., 'spoken') English).

4) The relevant context. This is often the language that comes directly before the utterance in question. For example, if the utterance is an answer, then the question would be relevant context.

In this case, although you didn't give any in post #9, we can imagine that your friend has previously sent you a text message, inviting you to his house to watch a movie. This invitation may or may not have been in the form of a question, which is very important, because we tend to answer questions directly, which affects very much the language we use.


All four of these points are very important (especially number 1) when considering use, so you should think about all of them every time you ask us about how to say something. A speaker must bear in mind all four points when deciding which is the correct way to say what he wants to say.

Is that all clear? Could you tell us a little more about the relevant context?

Thank you, jutfrank, for the detail explanation.
Yes, the four points do help me understand better why a sentence is phrased differently
though the basic meaning is the same.

For my example, I will provide the relevant context as follows:

”My friend was asking me to join him for movie at the cinema in the afternoon”

With this context, it seems that my first sentence is most appropriate. That is, “I am working tomorrow”

The only reason I pick the first sentence is because it sounds correct, but I am unsure about the rationale as to why the other two are not suitable under this context.

 

[jutfrank]

Well, as a non-native English speaker, it will very much help you to understand the rationale. Native speakers don't need to because they already know what to use.

 

[jutfrank]

With this context, it seems that my first sentence is most appropriate. That is, “I am working tomorrow”

Correct.

But remember that you're talking to a friend, in spoken English, and that therefore your language should be informal. What contraction should you make?

And what other changes could you make to the highlighted part below to make it a more appropriate thing to say to your friend?

I am working tomorrow so I will not be able to join you for the movie.

 

[DANAU]

Correct.

But remember that you're talking to a friend, in spoken English, and that therefore your language should be informal. What contraction should you make?

And what other changes could you make to the highlighted part below to make it a more appropriate thing to say to your friend?

I can re-write the sentence as follows:

I am working tomorrow so I don’t think I can join you (or I am unable to join you) forthe movie tomorrow.

 

[emsr2d2]

I can rewrite the sentence as follows:

[STRIKE]I am[/STRIKE] I'm working tomorrow so I don’t think I can join you (or I am unable to join you) for space between words the movie tomorrow.

There is no hyphen in "rewrite".

You missed a contraction - "I'm". In standard everyday conversation with friends, we are very unlikely to use "I am". It's still overly formal for talking to a mate.

John: Fancy going to see a film tomorrow afternoon?
Sarah: Sorry, mate. I'm working so I can't.

If you're relating this story to another friend later, you would still use informal language.

Sarah: John asked me to go to the cinema tomorrow afternoon.
Helen: What did you say?
Sarah: I told him I'm working so I can't go.

 

[jutfrank]

I am working tomorrow so I don’t think I can join you (or I am unable to join you) forthe movie tomorrow.

You've missed the contraction I suggested.

Don't say I am unable to join you. That's too formal.

Do you think it's necessary to say tomorrow twice?

 

[DANAU]

You've missed the contraction I suggested.

Don't say I am unable to join you. That's too formal.

Do you think it's necessary to say tomorrow twice?

Hi jutfrank.

I have learnt, as far as possible, not to repeat the same word twice in a single sentence.

“I am working tomorrow so I don’t think I can join you for the movie.”

 

[GoesStation]

I have learnt, as far as possible, not to repeat the same word twice in a single sentence.

That's not a bad general principle, but you shouldn't apply it to prepositions, articles, and other short, "helping" words.

 

[jutfrank]

“I am working tomorrow so I don’t think I can join you for the movie.”

That's nearly right. You've still missed the contraction that I suggested. Fuse the subject and the auxiliary together to make one word.

 

[DANAU]

That's nearly right. You've still missed the contraction that I suggested. Fuse the subject and the auxiliary together to make one word.

"I'm working tomorrow so I don't think I can join you for movie."

 

[GoesStation]

"I'm working tomorrow so I don't think I can join you for movie."

The contraction is right, but you've misplaced a required article.

 

[emsr2d2]

(Note that by "misplaced", GoesStation means "lost", not "put in the wrong place".)

 

[GoesStation]

(Note that by "misplaced", GoesStation means "lost", not "put in the wrong place".)

Yes. I use mis-placed for the latter.