Be going to

English Grammar Notes

Positive & Negative Sentences

The positive and negative structures for Be Going To are as follows:

Positive Negative
I am going to I am not going to
You are going to You are not going to
He is going to He is not going to
She is going to She is not going to
It is going to It is not going to
We are going to We are not going to
You are going to You are not going to
They are going to They are not going to

The structure BE GOING TO is normally used to indicate the future in English. We use this structure:

1. When we have already decided or we INTEND to do something in the future. (Prior Plan)

The decision has been made before the moment of speaking.

• I’m going to go to India next year.
• We talked about it yesterday and I‘m going to quit my job tomorrow.

2. When there are definite signs that something is going to happen. (Evidence)

Something is likely to happen based on the evidence or experience you have.

• It’s so cold! I think it is going to snow

3. When something is about to happen:

• Get back! The bomb is going to explode.

Questions with BE GOING TO

Questions are formed by changing the order of the subject and the verb BE:

Affirmative
You
are
going to
win the race.

  Subject
BE GOING TO

Question
Are you
going to win the race?

  BE
Subject
GOING TO

You are going to be sick if you eat that. (Positive sentence)
Are you going to be sick if you eat that? (Question)

We are going to take orange juice to the party. (Positive sentence)
Are we going to
take orange juice to the party? (Question)

BE GOING TO in the Past Tense

When BE GOING TO is used in the past tense, it refers to something that was
going to happen but in the end it did not happen.

Examples:

• I was going to call you but I lost your phone number.
• It was going to rain but suddenly the sun appeared.
• We were going to buy a new TV but then we changed our minds.
• You were going to be my bridesmaid but then you slept with my fiancée.

Gonna

Sometimes when we speak quickly, GOING TO sounds like GONNA. While it is grammatically incorrect, it is used a lot in very informal
English. You will also occasionally see the word Gonna written in song titles or in song lyrics.

I’m gonna go to the beach tomorrow.
= I’m going to go to the beach tomorrow.

He’s gonna bring his girlfriend to the party.
= He’s going to bring his girlfriend to the party.

Next activity

See the difference between Going to and Will when talking about the future

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