SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE
Simple future tense is used to denote an action that is to be done at some time in future.
The pattern of simple future tense is
S + will/ shall + V + O
Here, the auxiliary verbs ‘will’ and ‘shall’ ( the modal auxiliaries – see in the topic Auxiliary verbs/ helping Verbs) are used with the main verb in accordance with the persons of the subjects, not with the numbers of the subject.
We have studied in the topic Subjects that the subjects can be classified on the basis of ‘numbers’ and ‘persons’.
On the basis of persons, ‘subjects’ can be divided into three.
First person — ‘I’ and ‘We’.
Second person—‘You’
Third person — except ‘I’ , ‘We’ and ‘You’. Eg: ‘He’, ;She’, ‘They’, ‘it’, name of anything, etc..
The auxiliary verbs ‘will’ and ‘shall’ are used in two conditions.
1. Normal future.
Here, if subject is ‘first person’, that is ‘I’ and ‘We’, the auxiliary verb ‘shall’ is used.
Eg: I shall go to school tomorrow.
We shall conduct the celebration.
If the subject is ‘second person’ or ‘third person’, the auxiliary verb ‘will’ is used.
Eg: You will find out it soon.
They will explain it.
2 Serious Future
(showing a ‘determination’, ‘obligation’, ‘surety’, ‘truth’, ‘pledge’, ‘strong offer’, etc….)
Here, if subject is ‘first person’, that is ‘I’ and ‘We’, the auxiliary verb ‘will’ is used.
Eg: I will take over the endeavor.
We will make the home a Heaven.
If subject is ‘second person’ or ‘third person’, the auxiliary verb ‘shall’ is used.
Eg: He shall obey the rules.
You shall come tomorrow.
Mary shall give you the money.
These conditions should be kept in all the 4 forms of Future tense.
It should also be noted that the verb after ‘will’ and ‘shall’ is always in its ‘root’ or ‘base’ form.
Eg: Mathew and his friends shall launch a shopping mall next year.
Here, the ‘root form’ of the verb ‘launch’ is used after the auxiliary verb ‘shall’
The timing words of simple future tense,
‘Next’, ‘soon’, ‘following’, etc