Will & Be going to
EITHER
WILL
GOING TO
We use will rather than be going to to make a prediction based on our opinion or experience..
Why not come over at the weekend? The children will enjoy seeing you again.
Shall I ask Lamar? No, she won't want to be disturbed.
To predict the future we often use will with I bet (informal), I expect, I hope, I imagine, I reckon (Informal).,I think, I wonder, and I am sure, and in questions with think and reckon
I imagine the stadium will be full for the match on Saturday.
Will
That cheese smells awful I bet nobody will eat it.
When do you think you will finish work?
Do you reckon she'll say yes?
We use be going to rather than will when we make predictions based on some present evidence.
The sky's gone really dark. There's going to be a storm.
What's the matter with her? It looks like she's going to faint.
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We can use will or be going to with little difference in meaning in the main clause of an if-sentence when we say that sth (Often sth negative) is conditional on sth else.
You'll/you're going knock that glass over if you're not careful.
We can use either will or be going to to talk about something that is planned, or something that we think is likely to happen in the future.
We will study climate change in a later part of the course.
We often prefer be going to in informal contexts.
The south of the city won't be affected by the power cuts.
We use will when we make a decision at the moment of speaking, and be going to for decisions about the future that have already been made.
However, in a formal style, we use will rather than be going to to talk about future events that have been previously arranged in some details.
Are you going to talk at the meeting tonight?
The meeting will begin at 9 am. Refreshments will be available at 8:30 onwards.
I'll pick him up at eight.(An offer, an arrangement now)
I'm going to collect the children at eight. (This was previously arranged)
When I've saved up enough money, I am going to buy a computer.
When the future event does not depends on the action described on the in the if-clause, we use be going to, not will. This kind of sentence is mainly found in spoken English.
I'm going to open a bottle of lemonade, if you want some.(I'm going to open a bottle of lemonade, do you want some?)
I'll open a bottle of lemonade if you want some. (If you say you want some, I'll open it).
We use will not be going to, when the main clause refers to offers, requests, promises, etc. And ability.
If Erick phones, I'll let you know.(An offer ::I am going to let you know=I intend to let you know when Erick phones)
We use will not be going to, when one thing is the logical consequence of another.
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If you look to your left, you'll see the lake. (You'll be able to see; you're going to see suggests I know what you can see when you look to your left)
If you don't switch on the monitor first, the computer won't come on.
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