We'll probably go out this evening.

[fenglish]

Hi,

The sentence below is from a grammar book:
-> We'll probably go out this evening.

And the book also says:
We do not use will for things we have arranged or decided to do.
-> I'm not working tomorrow.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

What if I removed the word "probably" from the above sentence as in:
-> We'll go out this evening.

Is it grammatically correct?

Because we have already planned to go out this evening, so I think "We'll go out this evening" is wrong. It should be changed to "-ing" if "probably" is missing:
-> We are going out this evening.

Please help to confirm which is correct.
Thanks.

 

[teechar]

Can you give us the title and author's name of that book please?

 

[fenglish]

Can you give us the title and author's name of that book please?

Essential Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy

 

[teechar]

We do not use will for things we have arranged or decided to do.

-> We'll go out this evening.

Is it grammatically correct?

Because we have already planned to go out this evening, so I think "We'll go out this evening" is wrong.

I don't agree with that. I see nothing wrong with saying "We'll go out this evening" regardless of prior arrangement or decision. I think context is more important in determining which structure to use.

 

[fenglish]

I don't agree with that. I see nothing wrong with saying "We'll go out this evening" regardless of prior arrangement or decision. I think context is more important in determining which structure to use.

I still have a little confusion. Please see the following sentences (All from the same grammar book):

1). I'm not working tomorrow.
2). I won't work tomorrow.

3). We're going to the cinema on Saturday.
4). We will go to the cinema on Saturday.

Are they all correct?

 

[teechar]

Absolutely! They're correct and natural, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

[fenglish]

Here is the original description from the grammar book:
We use will for the future (tomorrow / next week etc.):
-> We'll probably go out this evening.

We do not use will for things we have arranged or decided to do:
-> We're going to the cinema on Saturday. (not 'We will go')
-> I'm not working tomorrow. (not 'I won't work')

As you can see, the original author (Raymond Murphy) said "We will go to the cinema on Saturday" is wrong.

Here is the definition of will from Oxford dictionary:
used for talking about or predicting the future.
-> You'll be in time if you hurry.
-> How long will you be staying in Paris?
-> Fred said he'd be leaving soon.
-> By next year all the money will have been spent.

Oxford said when talking about the future, we do can use "will". From this point of view, I think the sentence "We will go to the cinema on Saturday" is correct.

 

[teechar]

when talking about the future, we do/can use "will". From this point of view, I think the sentence "We will go to the cinema on Saturday" is correct.

Yes. For example,

A: Tell me about your plans for Saturday.

B: Oh, it's going to be a very exciting day. We will get up at the crack or dawn, have a quick cup of tea, and set off into the forest. We will look for the Great Hornbills first, and then we will climb the nearby hill to see if we can spot some Crimson Sunbirds.

 

[fenglish]

After rethinking carefully, I think Raymond Murphy is right.

-> We're going to the cinema on Saturday. (not 'We will go')

Firstly, both sentences are correct.
Secondly, when using "We're going to", it sounds more natural than "We will go" for things we have already arranged.

Yes. For example,

A: Tell me about your plans for Saturday.

B: Oh, it's going to be a very exciting day. We will get up at the crack or dawn, have a quick cup of tea, and set off into the forest. We will look for the Great Hornbills first, and then we will climb the nearby hill to see if we can spot some Crimson Sunbirds.

But my explanation seems not suitable for the example given by teechar, and I don't know how to explain this phenomenon.

 

[teechar]

I don't understand what you're trying to convey.