English grammar and tenses question?

Question

I go to second grade in language gymnasium in Croatia, and even though my vocabulary in English is excellent, my grammar is not that good. So, I have a couple of questions:

1. When we use present perfect continuous to talk about activities which started in the past, lasted till the moment of speaking, and will go on, is it a good example of use: "The Earth has been spinning.", or could you give me a better example.

2. What is the difference in meaning and in tenses if you say: "I am going to Bahamas in 2 months." and "I am going to go to Bahamas in 2 months."?

3. What is the usual difference between "will" and "going to" future?

4. We learned that present continuous can be used as a future form when talking about an arrangement, for example: "I am flying to London" (which means I already have the ticket), but is there any better example? (I still do not fully understand this.)

5. What is the difference between future perfect (e.g. I will have gone.) and future prefect continuous (e.g. I will have been living. (This last tense is (I think) very rare.))

I appreciate the help.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

eslschool1. When we use present perfect continuous to talk about activities which started in the past, lasted till the moment of speaking, and will go on, is it a good example of use: "The Earth has been spinning.", or could you give me a better example.

Yes. The tense is very common.

It has been raining for hours. (It is still raining.)
Mr. Smith has been teaching algebra since 1980. (He's still teaching.)

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eslschool2. What is the difference in meaning and in tenses if you say: "I am going to the Bahamas in 2 months." and "I am going to go to the Bahamas in 2 months."?

No difference in meaning.
Present tense can be used for future actions, as in your first sentence, or for statements that are true for all time.

eslschool3. What is the usual difference between "will" and "going to" future?

There is no difference in meaning.

eslschool4. We learned that present continuous can be used as a future form when talking about an arrangement, for example: "I am flying to London" (which means I already have the ticket), but is there any better example? (I still do not fully understand this.)

The time of the action should be clear from context or an adverb of time. It is usually used with verbs that have some advance planning activities.

These all have similar meanings. There is no rule about when to use which form:

I am meeting Mr. Smith next week.

I am going to meet Mr. Smith next week.

I will meet Mr. Smith next week.

eslschool5. What is the difference between future perfect (e.g. I will have gone.) and future prefect continuous (e.g. I will have been living. (This last tense is (I think) very rare.))

One action will be complete in the future, the other (continuous) will still be ongoing. The future perfect is not a common tense.

If the rain continues, by the end of today it will have been raining for 10 straight days. (Ongoing)

If our team wins the game today, we will have had a perfect season. (The season is over after the game.)

At the end of the school year, Mr. Smith will have been teaching longer than any other teacher in the history of the school. (He is not planning to retire.)

English grammar and tenses question?

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