[Grammar] – Progressive form – am working, will be working, or going to work

Well, this is a very good example to illustrate what I mean by use, so let’s stick with it. You have now explained the situation, so we know:

1)

The message. This is what the speaker wants to do. This is very important to consider. It is very useful to understand that when we use a piece of language, it is normally because we want to change the world in some way, however small.

In this case, the message is to inform your friend that you reject his invitation, giving a reason for the rejection.

2)

Who is speaking and who is listening. These two things are very important to think about when considering use.

In this case, the speaker is you and the listener is your friend. You have a friendship relation, so we should use vocabulary appropriate to that relationship.

3)

The medium. This is the way that the language is communicated. In this case, it is a text message.

In this case, that means we’re going to use conversational (i.e., ‘spoken’) English).

4)

The relevant context. This is often the language that comes directly before the utterance in question. For example, if the utterance is an answer, then the question would be relevant context.

In this case, although you didn’t give any in post #9, we can imagine that your friend has previously sent you a text message, inviting you to his house to watch a movie. This invitation may or may not have been in the form of a question, which is very important, because we tend to answer questions directly, which affects very much the language we use.

All four of these points are very important (especially number 1) when considering use, so you should think about all of them every time you ask us about how to say something. A speaker must bear in mind all four points when deciding which is the correct way to say what he wants to say.

Is that all clear? Could you tell us a little more about the relevant context?