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Nina_Nia Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

The difference between a scheduled event and a future plan/decision

Hello,

How should I explain the difference between 'a scheduled event' and 'a future plan or decision' to a student?
A student I know says that in these two sentences; 'Nick meets Bob tomorrow and Nick is going to meet Bob tomorrow' both actions can be considered to be scheduled events as as they take place at a certain time. Emotion: hmm Is that really so?

Thanks
  

Top answer

Yes, they can both be 'scheduled events' or 'future plans/decisions'. And it could also read 'Nick is meeting Bob tomorrow'. There is no clear line between these meanings, and grammarians who try to sort out the various future verb forms (there are about 7 of them, I think) often become overly prescriptive in order to inject reason into the mess that actually exists among those forms.

— Mister Micawber

  • Yes, they can both be 'scheduled events' or 'future plans/decisions'.
  • And it could also read 'Nick is meeting Bob tomorrow'.
  • There is no clear line between these meanings, and grammarians who try to sort out the various future verb forms (there are about 7 of them, I think) often become overly prescriptive in order to inject reason into the mess that actually exists among those forms.
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1 Answers
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Yes, they can both be 'scheduled events' or 'future plans/decisions'. And it could also read 'Nick is meeting Bob tomorrow'.

There is no clear line between these meanings, and grammarians who try to sort out the various future verb forms (there are about 7 of them, I think) often become overly prescriptive in order to inject reason into the mess that actually exists among those fo
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