[Grammar] What will you do on Sunday?

[beachboy]

If I'm not totally mistaken, I say

"I'll visit my sister on Sunday" to refer to a decision made at the time of speaking,
"I'm going to visit my sister on Sunday" to refer to an intention in the future,
and "I'm visiting my sister on Sunday" to refer to an arrangement.

If this is so, what shall I have in mind when choosing wheter to ask "What will you do on Sunday", "What are you going to do on Sunday" or "What are you doing on Sunday"? And one more question: if somebody asks me "What will you do on Sunday" can I answer using either "going to" or "present continuous to express future"?

 

[Tdol]

It depends on whether you think the person has any plans for Sunday. You might want to start with a question like Are you doing anything on Sunday?

 

[jutfrank]

I'll try to explain it simply:

What are you going to do on Sunday? (= I'm asking about your intention.)

What are you doing on Sunday? (=I'm asking about your arrangements.)

Regardless of the question that you are asked, if you want to state what you think of as an arrangement you should use present continuous and if you want to state a future intention that you don't think of as an arrangement, then use be going to.

Normally, without previous context, the most likely question that we would ask somebody about an upcoming Sunday is one which concerns their arrangements because people usually make arrangements for their Sundays. So a likely question of this kind is What are you doing on Sunday?

A: What are you doing on Sunday?
B: I'm going to Thorpe Park with Javier and Oscar.

A: What are you doing on Sunday?
B: I'm not doing anything special. Why do you ask?

You can see that in the second exchange above, person B responds to the question about arrangements with the same present continuous tense, even though she hasn't made any arrangements. This is like saying I understand that you are asking me about arrangements and I'm telling you that I haven't made any arrangements.

 

[beachboy]

I'll try to explain it simply:

What are you going to do on Sunday? (= I'm asking about your intention.)

What are you doing on Sunday? (=I'm asking about your arrangements.)



Regardless of the question that you are asked, if you want to state what you think of as an arrangement you should use present continuous and if you want to state a future intention that you don't think of as an arrangement, then use be going to.

So, I'm coming to the conclusion that if I'm asked "What will you on Sunday?" or "What are you going to do on Sunday?" and, in fact, I've arranged to - let's say - visit my sister, I can answer "I'm visiting my sister". Is that right?

 

[jutfrank]

So, I'm coming to the conclusion that if I'm asked "What will you on Sunday?" or "What are you going to do on Sunday?" and, in fact, I've arranged to - let's say - visit my sister, I can answer "I'm visiting my sister". Is that right?

Yes.

 

[emsr2d2]

A native speaker is unlikely to ask you "What will you do on Sunday?" We usually say "What are you doing on Sunday?", "What are you up to on Sunday?", "What have you got planned for Sunday?" or something similar.

 

[jutfrank]

A native speaker is unlikely to ask you "What will you do on Sunday?"

Yes. Unless of course there is prior context.

A: I have only enough money to eat until Saturday, and I don't get paid until Monday morning.
B: What will you do on Sunday?
A: I don't know.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd still say "Oh no! What are you going to do on Sunday?!"

 

[beachboy]

I'd still say "Oh no! What are you going to do on Sunday?!"

As for "What are you up to on Sunday?", is it common to answer this question using "up to"? "I'm up to no good" maybe?

 

[emsr2d2]

As for "What are you up to on Sunday?", is it common to answer this question using "up to"? "I'm up to no good" maybe?

No, not at all. In the question (and in many other contexts), "up to" simply means "doing".

What are you up to Sunday?
The usual - walking the dogs, taking the kids to football and tennis, having a roast dinner and then slobbing in front of the TV all evening.

What are you up to Sunday?
We're going to Bath to visit some friends. I'm really looking forward to it. We haven't seen them for years.

What are you doing on Sunday?
No idea yet. I'll see how I feel when I get up.