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Nkspb Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

The Future Simple when talking of a long event

Hello everybody. I know that it's possible to use the Future Simple to say that an event will start at a certain time:

"I'll do my homework at 6 am"

I read that here it just states that the event starts at that time.

I assume that the Future Simple is used when we state that an event will not last long.. am I right?

Here's an example:

"I will write a book at 4 o'clock."

Does it necessarily imply that I will soon finish writing the whole book after that moment? Of course, the Future Continuous seems okay here, but anyway.. Does it work this way?

Thanks!
  

Top answer

nkspb I will write a book at 4 o'clock. It's not possible to write a book at a specific time. Writing a book takes a lot of time.

— CalifJim

  • nkspb I will write a book at 4 o'clock.
  • It's not possible to write a book at a specific time.
  • Writing a book takes a lot of time.
  • Therefore, the sentence has no real meaning, and it doesn't imply anything.
  • If you say it, people will think you made a mistake in your choice of words.
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3 Answers
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nkspbI will write a book at 4 o'clock.
It's not possible to write a book at a specific time. Writing a book takes a lot of time. Therefore, the sentence has no real meaning, and it doesn't imply anything. If you say it, people will think you made a mistake in your choice of words.

CJ
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Thanks for the help!

I'd like to ask some more questions, please?
What I think now:

"I'll do my homework at 2pm" - they will start doing it at that time.

But what if I want to say that homework will be finished at some exact time. Should I use:

"I'll have done my homework at 2pm"

or what?
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nkspb"I'll do my homework at 2pm" - they will start doing it at that time.
Yes. The more precise phrasing is "I'll start (to do) my homework at 2 pm", but what you have means the same thing. You can do your homework in one session, but not a whole book. That's why we treat those two situations differently with respect to the use of a definite time (2 pm, 4
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