A2 Grammar

Going to

Going to

be going to

Use:

Use be going to to talk about your personal plans for the future.

I’m going to see my sister at the weekend.

Are you going to marry Paul?

Form:

1) The form of the positive and negative sentences and questions is shown below.

Positive

I am / ‘m going to verb (infinitive form)

you are / ‘re going to verb (infinitive form)

he / she / it is / ‘s going to verb (infinitive form)

we are / ‘re going to verb (infinitive form)

they are / ‘re going to verb (infinitive form)

Negative

I‘m not going to verb (infinitive form)

you aren’t OR ‘re not going to verb (infinitive form)

he / she / it isn’t OR ‘s not going to verb (infinitive form)

we aren’t OR ‘re not going to verb (infinitive form)

they aren’t OR ‘re not going to verb (infinitive form)

Questions

Am I going to verb (infinitive form) ?

Are you going to verb (infinitive form) ?

Is he / she / it going to verb (infinitive form) ?

Are we going to verb (infinitive form) ?

Are they going to verb (infinitive form) ?

2) The short reply to a ‘be going to’ question is ‘Yes, I am’, ‘Yes, she is’ etc. You cannot contract these short sentences.

Yes, he’s. => Yes, he is.

The short negative replies are:

No, I’m not.

No, you’re not / No, you aren’t.

No, he’s not / No he isn’t. No, she’s not / No she isn’t. No, it’s not / no it isn’t.

No, we’re not / No, we aren’t.

No, they’re not / No, they aren’t.

Common mistakes:

1) Some students forget to add the verb ’be’ before ‘going to’.

I going to see my friends tonight. => I’m going to see my friends tonight.

2) Some students forget to invert the subject and be in questions.

What time you are going to leave? => What time are you going to leave?