Future Continuous with 'be going to'

Question

Hi,I was researching future continuous online and I found that almost all the sites introduces the future continuous with    will + be + ving.How about "be going to"? Anything wrong with using 'be going to' with the future continuous?Is he going to be working late tonight?    vs.    Will he be working late tonight?         Any difference? or is will prefered over be going to?

Natalli. · Accepted Answer

Hi

I have never seen the expression "be going to" in future continuos context.

Perhaps it is possible, but I have never encountered.

Will he be working late tonight? (is very Ok)

Regards

Nata..

Doug Sherman · Answer

"Will he work late tonight" or "Is John going to work late tonight" in my opinion.

Why....?

I always struggled with this at university but my professor said his rule-of-thumb was "try to avoid using 'be' or 'have been' if at all possible, as it has negative connotations". "Hamlet would 'have been' appaled at such a notion!!" I said, to which he replied "well, Hamlet was a miserable depressed bloke, so it suited him."

I didn't get it....

When I joined the Army they said "Be all that you can be!". Sounded motivational, but I mentioned the recruiter that the promotional banner hanging in the window should actually read "Accomplish all of the things in life that are within your natural potential ability to accomplish!", just to avoid all of the negative connotations of the word 'be'. At which point he immediately excused himself for lunch and directed me to the Marines recruitment facility next door on his way out.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Doug,

I read your whole story, but haven't yet understood why the word be has negative connotations to you.

If one uses this word appropriately, he doesn't have to get a negative meaning.

As to the matter, Is John going to work late tonight - That's the correct one.

Will he work late tonight - It's also fine, but I prefer the first one, as we know he's going to work at night.; the

question is how long it takes him.

Regards

Doug Sherman · Answer

Well that's just it... it doesn't have negative connotations to me, but it did to my professor. And, since he is quite smarter than I am, I assumed he was correct... but I still don't get it myself. Regardless, in the context of this post I still prefer to leave it out altogether and just rewrite the sentence.

Holyduke · Answer

...I wish I could rewrite the sentence...

However, I'm trying to make a section on the future continuous.

Imagine this scenerio:

A cute kid talking to his father in the morning.

"Will you be coming home early today for my birthday party?" (Imagine the sad, innocent puppy eyes)

vs.

"Will you come home early today for my birthday party?" (Don't know if it is just me, but this version just doesn't sound as great as the future continuous one. Maybe I just a bit off~~Having a four-day weekend definitely affects my thinking process - please tell me what you guys think)

vs.

"Are you going to be coming home early today for my birthday party?" Yuck, this just sounds weird and gives me a tongue cramp

vs.

"Are you going to come home early today for my birthday party?" (Too strong~~, don't know whats wrong with it...is there?)

"Are you coming home early today for my birthday party?" (My impression is: Such a bossy and demanding kid! I don't think its nice to use it this way)

So~~ any rules from grammar books or online references I can check out to see why most sites only use will and not be going to for future continuous?

Thank you all for your inputs. Thanks again in advance.

CalifJim · Answer

holydukeI was researching future continuous online and I found that almost all the sites introduces the future continuous with will + be + ving.
How about "be going to"? Anything wrong with using 'be going to' with the future continuous?

First, let's clear up the terminology.

will be + ing is the pattern for the future continuous tense. It's the only pattern that is known as the future continuous tense.

be going to be + ing is not the future continuous tense, and it is not be going to with the future continuous. It can be described as a paraphrase of the future continuous, but it is not the future continuous. It is the idiom be going to followed by a continuous infinitive.

_______

Next, there is nothing wrong with be going to be + ing.

holydukeIs he going to be working late tonight? vs. Will he be working late tonight? Any difference?

The difference between these is the exact same difference that exists between going to and will in any other context. It has nothing to do with the continuous element that follows these words; that's a separate difference between the non-continuous and the continuous.

holydukeis will prefered over be going to?

No. Certainly not in the general case. You have to have a context in which will is appropriate in order to use will; you have to have a context in which going to is appropriate in order to use going to. It doesn't matter whether what follows is a non-continuous or a continuous pattern.

Similarly, you have to have a context in which the non-continuous form of the future (or future paraphrase) is appropriate in order to use the non-continuous form; you have to have a context in which the continuous form of the future (or future paraphrase) is appropriate in order to use the continuous form.

In summary, you have a two-dimensional usage choice, characterized by the horizontal and the vertical dimensions in the chart below.

Non-continuous Continuous

Future will do will be doing

Future paraphrase be going to do be going to be doing

CJ

Holyduke · Answer

Ah, I see that I have made a mistake in the begining --> "Anything wrong with using 'be going to' in the future continuous?"

Not with but in...

So if I havn't mistaken your explaination, be going to be + ing 'can' paraphrase the "future continous" but it is not the 'form/structure' of future continuous.

Why is 'will + v' and 'be going to + infinitive' the common form for future tense and not for the future continuous????

All the websites have detailed explaination of the will vs be going to in future tense and they didn't have the decency to do it for the continuous. They are trying to set me up heh heh!

Thank you for clearing this up for me. I can't find be going to be . So I thought it was incorrect to use be going to be .

Thanks again for the explaination.

CalifJim · Answer

holydukebe going to be + ing 'can' paraphrase the "future continous" but it is not the 'form/structure' of future continuous.

Correct.

holydukeWhy is 'will + v' and 'be going to + infinitive' the common form for future tense

It isn't. Are you using a textbook that makes this claim? Not good. Make sure you make a distinction between the future tense (an exactly defined structure) and future time. There are several ways to indicate future time, but only one future tense - or two if you count the future continuous as a second future tense.

holydukeI thought it was incorrect to use be going to be .

No. It's not incorrect. Just because you can't find something about it on the internet doesn't mean it's wrong.

CJ

Holyduke · Answer

I am ashamed...

Until you corrected me, I have always thought will and be going to as the future tense.

I checked the website Mister MC gave me and it does separate the future tense will with the form be going to.

Ahhhh.... I will have to be more careful in the future.

Future Continuous with 'be going to'

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