be going to
Future plans and intentions.
We use 'be going to' to talk about plans and intentions — things we have already decided to do. The structure is: subject + am/is/are + going to + base verb. We choose am with 'I', is with he/she/it, and are with you/we/they. For example: 'I am going to visit my grandparents next weekend.' To make a negative sentence, add 'not' after am/is/are: 'She is not going to eat meat.' In questions, move am/is/are to the front: 'Are you going to study tonight?' We often pair 'be going to' with future time expressions such as tomorrow, next week, next year, this summer, and on Saturday to make the time clear. A common mistake is writing 'gonna' in formal writing — always write 'going to' in full. Do not confuse 'be going to' with the Present Continuous: 'I am going to cook' expresses a plan, while 'I am cooking' describes an action happening right now. For example: 'We are going to travel to London next summer because we want to see Big Ben.'
Rules
- 1Structure: subject + am/is/are + going to + base verb. Use 'am' with I, 'is' with he/she/it, and 'are' with you/we/they.
- 2Negative: add 'not' after am/is/are — 'I am not going to watch TV tonight.' Contractions: isn't, aren't.
- 3Questions: move am/is/are before the subject — 'Is she going to cook dinner?' Answer: 'Yes, she is.' / 'No, she isn't.'
- 4Use future time words (tomorrow, next week, next year, this evening) with 'be going to' to say when the plan happens.
- 5After 'going to', always use the base form of the verb — never -ing or past tense: 'He is going to play' (NOT 'playing' or 'played').
Practice
10 easy · 10 medium · 10 hard
10 random questions per test