Beginner 3 | Lesson 4 | Will - Future Tense

Holiday Plans

Sarah and Todd share what they will do and won't do over the holiday break.
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Todd: So Sarah, we have the holidays coming up. Are you going to do anything exciting?

Sarah: No, nothing exciting. I will just stay home most of the vacation, but there are a few things I'll do. I will bake a cake for Christmas. I will sing lots of Christmas songs with my children. We will sing together and video it. I want to send a video of us singing to grandparents. So we will sing Christmas songs, and we will videotape it. Then, we can send it to our grandparents. I think they will really like it.

Todd: Oh, that's nice. So, will you have a big Christmas dinner?

Sarah: Yes, we have some things that we always eat. We'll have ham, and we'll have potatoes and cake, and my favorite thing is to cook fudge. I'll cook the fudge probably tomorrow night, and then we won't eat it until Christmas.

Todd: Okay, oh cool.

Sarah: And it's really, it's really hard not to eat it, because it's so delicious, and everyone loves it. Every day, the children will ask me, "Oh, can we eat it? Can we eat it?" "No, no, no, you can't eat it." We'll wait 'til Christmas to eat the fudge.

Todd: Oh, that's good. I, I couldn't do that.

Sarah: What we won't do is, I won't do any work, and I won't do any chores like clean the house or do laundry. Those can wait until after Christmas, so I won't be working hard. I just want to relax. Todd, how 'bout you? What will you do?

Todd: Well, I will get away. I don't like the cold, so I will go to Thailand, and I will stay there and just work actually.

Sarah: Oh.

Todd: I will do stuff for Elllo. I will work on a book, a new book for Elllo, and I will just take it easy. I won't travel. I won't go to the beach. I won't go to the mountains. I won't do any of the touristy stuff. I will just take it easy, relax every day, and do what I call a workcation.

Sarah: Wow, what will the weather be like?

Todd: Well, it's the best time of year in Thailand, so it's quite warm in December and January. It should be about, I don't know, 70, 80 degrees, 25 degrees Celsius., so it will be nice every day. It should be.

Sarah: Ah. Will you do anything special on Christmas Day?

Todd: I won't. You know, usually, when I travel, I forget it's Christmas even sometimes. Obviously, I will see the decorations in the malls and things like that. But, I won't do anything on Christmas Day. They don't celebrate Christmas in Thailand. It's a Buddhist country, so it's a normal work day. Everybody will be going to work. All the shops will be open. It won't be different than any other day, so that will be nice.

Sarah: I see.

Todd: So, I will be able to work like a normal day. I will probably call family and friends, and I will check Facebook and see what people are doing. But, I won't have a traditional Christmas.

Sarah: How about New Year's? Will they do anything special for New Year's?

Todd: Yeah, in Bangkok, it gets really crazy on New Year's. But, even then, on New Year's, I probably won't do anything. I'm 49, so I've seen many, many New Year's. I'll probably just go out for a bit, and I'll probably be back home before midnight, actually. I won't do anything crazy. How 'bout you? What will you do for New Year's?

Sarah: Well, I have three kids, so my husband and I will probably stay home too. We like to have some fun. My husband bought crab, so we will eat crab for New Year's. I love champagne, so I'll have some champagne. We'll probably have a big, delicious dinner, and I'll drink some champagne. The kids will probably go to sleep at 10:00. Then, a little after midnight, I'll go to sleep too, so nothing exciting.

Todd: Yeah, so, yeah, it sounds like we have pretty tame plans.

Sarah: Definitely.

Todd: But, at least, I will be warm.

Sarah: Yes.

Will for Future Tense

Point 1: We use will to talk about things happening in the future.
  1. I will see you tomorrow.
  2. The meeting will start soon.
  3. She will not be here next week.
  4. It will not be be easy to pass the exam
Point 2: The negative form of will is will not, but we often contract will not to won't in spoken English. However, do not use contractions in formal writting.
  1. We won't have enough money.
  2. She won't get home until six.
  3. The test won't be easy.
  4. I won't travel this year.
Point 3: We often use will to express a future action that is immediate or random. For planned actions we often use going to or the present continuous.
  • Who will be at the meeting?
  • Everyone will be there.
  • When will it end?
  • I will end at noon, just before lunch.
Point 4: We often use the contraction of will ('ll) in spoken English. However, do not use contractions in formal writting.
  1. I'll call you tomorrow.
  2. She'll be here soon.
  3. They'll give you call this week.
  4. Arnold always says, "I'll be back" in his movies.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

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