Which of the following are natural

Question

Hi. Please kindly advise which of the following sentences are more natural to native ears:

My aunt is coming to my house this evening.
My aunt is coming to visit us this evening.
My aunt is going to visit us this evening.
My aunt will visit us this evening.

Or is there any better way to express this event?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

My aunt is coming to my house this evening. Not the best.
My aunt is coming to visit us this evening. Good. (or to see us - equally good.)
My aunt is going to visit us this evening. Good. (or to see us - equally good.)
My aunt will visit us this evening. No, no.
Also, informally,
My aunt is coming over tonight.
CJ

Ba1Ley · Answer

I agree with Calif

Abil · Answer

CJ, why "My aunt will visit us this evening." is not correct?

Tanit · Answer

Hi,

In your example, your aunt's visit is arranged ("this evening"). For future arrangements and decisions already made, the progressive form (My aunt is coming over this evening) and the "going to" form (My aunt is going to visit us this evening) are generally preferred.

When used with reference to future events, "will" is generally used in two ways:

prediction (Next summer will be hotter than usual. One day I'll visit France.), unless there's some sort of present evidence that something is going to happen (Look at those clouds! It's going to rain soon).
decisions and offers made on the spur of the moment (John: "The telephone is ringing." Jane: "I'll answer it.")

But I bet CJ will giveyou a better answer later. (It's night now in California

- small hours, I think).

Abil · Answer

Thanks Tanit for the explanation, which sounds quite logical to me.

CalifJim · Answer

AbilCJ, why "My aunt will visit us this evening." is not correct?

To my ear, it can only be correct as a sort of command. And the situational context that requires such a command is so rare, it's hardly worth considering it correct for the purposes probably intended by the original poster.
Context: A very bossy young man has come up with a list of activities that various members of his family will be doing as part of a family outing. He gathers the members of the family together and reads from a list that he has prepared:
My mother will prepare the picnic food.
My father will drive us to the park.
We will have a meal.
Then we will play badminton.
Then my father will drive us home.
My uncle will then tell us about his trip to Europe.
My aunt will visit us this evening.
My aunt and uncle will leave by 10:00 pm.
______
Note that the entire tone of this list with all those wills is that the young man is acting as a superior to the other members of the family. He is acting as a manager of their activities. The tone is cold and bossy. He is not the sort of person most of us would want to associate with.

CJ

Abil · Answer

CJ, crystal clear. You WILL not have to repeat it again. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/4.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/4.gif' alt='Emotion: stick out tongue'/>

Which of the following are natural

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