Asking Questions Using The Future Tense
Hola muchachos! In this episode, we will continue with asking questions: How to ask questions using auxiliary verbs HAVE in the Present Perfect tense, as well as future forms using verbs GOING TO, WILL and SHALL. Enjoy :)
Transcriptions
Hola muchachos! You are listening to English Made Simple, Episode 34. Numero 34.
Hey guys, welcome to English Made Simple. My name is Milena, and welcome everyone! Thank you for joining me to yet another episode of English Made Simple, where we learn to speak English with confidence. Isn’t that sweet?
So what have you been up to this week? What’s up? It’s an informal way to ask: What did you do this week? Did you do anything exciting?
Like me for example, I woke up at 6am on Saturday morning and went for a walk. Because I am locaaaaa! It was fun though! You should try it sometime. Well, iIt’s springtime in Australia, sun is shining and the birds are singing. The spring, primavera,It started on 1st of September here in Australia actually. The winter starts on 1st of June and the spring on 1st of September.
Yup.
So, in the last Short and Sweet episode , number #33, we learnt that it is ok to ask stupid questions. I shared a true story with you guys, it really happened. We also learnt the word smartass and what it means, you know, to give a smartass comment to someone, it just means a sarcastic comment. I forgot to mention that you should only use it with your friends or people you feel comfortable with, don’t use it in the exam please or at job interviews because it is slang, modismo. My friends usually call me a smartass, they tell me, Milena, don’t be a smartass! That’s because I am full of smartass comments, well, weon inteligente was one of them haha.
Anyway, and then in the episode #32 we learnt about asking questions using the auxiliary verbs To be and To do. I hope that was helpful to you guys.
By the way, did you do your homework? Hmm…. Probably not! I am sure you have a really good excuse. The only excuse I will accept is: my dog ate my homework. I think that was from the Simpsons.Right. Whatever!
In this episode, we are going to continue to learn how to ask questions but this TIME using another auxiliary verb To HAVE and also we are going to learn how to ask questions using the future tense. Did you know there are two ways to form future tense in English? Mmmhm just to confuse everybody really haha Don’t worry, be happy, we will learn how ask questions using both forms in this episode! Yey!
Very exciting! Excellent!
So let’s begin, shall we?
So, we learnt about the auxiliary verbs in the previous episode #32, basically this means, the word auxiliary verb means it is a helping verb, it helps us construct sentences and form questions.
The auxiliary verb TO HAVE is just a helping verb, think of it as a helping verb! It doesn’t mean tener, which in Spanish tener, which means something to hold, to physically have, to possess…. In this case, it doesn’t mean that, so please don’t translate it.
The auxiliary verb TO HAVE just helps us to construct sentences.
We use the auxiliary verb to HAVE to form questions in the Present Perfect Tense. It is also an irregular verb, the past tense is HAD. And we would use HAD to form questions in the Past Perfect Tense.
I think we covered Present perfect tense in one of our previous episodes, now I can’t remember, I think it was episode 11 if my memory serves me right. Where I taught you to use this tense when we talk about experiences. There are other ways to use this tense, but let’s keep it simple for now.
Lets use an example of a Present Perfect Tense.
Let’s use the verb EAT: Comer. Eat is an irregular verb, past tense is ATE and participle EATEN. In Present Perfect Tense we use participle for form sentences and also questions.
Here is a statement:
You have eaten.
That’s a statement
The question would be.
Have you eaten?
Again, do you remember from the last episode, the rule when using auxiliary verbs is to swap the verb and the subject.
Swap means intercambiar. So we swap the subject with the conjugation of the verb To Have to form questions.
You have eaten. Have you eaten? Is the question.
Let’s continue and use another example. I am going to use an example that was in the news this week. I am going to pick on Donald Trump!
Donald Trump has visited Mexico this week. That’s a statement.
The question would be: Has Donald Trump visited Mexico this week? Has he been there before? I hope he was there to learn Spanish because there is no other reason he should have been there. Really, Weon!
Right! Did that make sense so far? Present perfect tense, we use the verb HAVE to form questions. Have you eaten? Have you ever been to Mexico?
Now let’s continue with the Future Tense: How do we ask questions in the future?
Quite simple actually! Now that we kind of know the basic structure of swapping the subject with the auxiliary verb, we will also do the same for the future tense.
Very simple stuff.
Let’s consider the simple future tense first….Actually it is very easy to construct a question, we use the auxiliary verb WILL. W.I.L.L. + verb, it indicates future tense.
In the English language it is very common to use contraction of the word WILL with the subject, so instead of saying I will go. It becomes I‘ll go. It is a short form of I will go, I’ll go.
Very common to use when speaking English, we use the contraction…the short form.
So, you might want to practise it next time you want to use future tense.
Here are some examples:
I will meet him later …we can say I’ll meet him later.
It will rain tomorrow (it’ll rain tomorrow)
It’s very subtle sound, this short form of WILL
She will be late (she’ll be late)
He will help us later (he’ll help us later)
They will cook dinner (they’ll cook dinner)
Try to practise this, it’s very soft L, when you abbreviate this WILL.
Finally, how do we form questions with this WILL:
Will I go? I will go. Will I go?
Again we are swapping the auxiliary verb with the subject.
Will it rain tomorrow? It will rain tomorrow becomes, Will it rain tomorrow?
Will she dance?
Will he arrive soon?
Will they cook?
And when we are using the questions like: Where, When, Who and What?
We just put them in front of the auxiliary verb.
Will I go?
Where will I go? When will I go?
When will it rain?
So you just put the WH type of questions, you put it before the auxiliary verb WILL.
How are we doing so far guys? Hope I am making sense, hope you are able to follow me so far, so let’s continue!
Awesome!
Shall I and Shall we?
So have you heard of this word SHALL before?
I want to add a little twist to the future tense. The word SHALL….
It’s another auxiliary verb.
Shall is used for future tenses as well. But only for the First persons singular and plural pronouns. I shall, We shall. We only use it in those cases.
And this is according to British English Language. Ok?
In British English it’s very common to hear, I shall, We shall. I shall go? We shall go?
In American English, it’s no so common.
If you go back to the beginning of this episode, there was a time in the beginning where I said, “Let’s begin, shall we?”
So, when do we use Shall or Will? How do we know when to use Shall or Will? Hmmm…. You may ask yourselves. Well, that depends entirely on whether you prefer British English or American English. It would be very unusual to hear Americans use Shall for future tense.
But on the other hand it is very common to use the auxiliary verb SHALL in both British and American English to make suggestions or offers, or to ask for advice:
Another example we could use is….
Shall I shut the door?
Where shall we go today?
Shall we go for a drink?
Shall I open the door?
It’s like asking for permission.
Shall we start? Shall we begin?
I use this quite often. I use the verb Shall I? Shall we?
Right. So now. That was one future tense. That was simple future tense in English.
There is another way we can form future in English.
The second future form we would use the verb TO BE GOING TO.
It is very similar or even equivalent to the verb IR, to go, in Spanish.
For example:
I am going to buy this book —> Voy a comprar este libro
Going To and Will both indicate future tense.
Now when do we use Will and when do we use Going to?
Eh, so many twists in this episode, I hope you are following me so far. What is the difference between these two?
There is a slight difference between Will and Going to.
Well, we use Will when we decide to do something at the time of speaking Example:
Milena: Mi amor, remember to wash the dishes tonight please.
And he would say: Ok Milena, I will do it.
In this example, my husband didn’t think about washing the dishes before I asked him to do it. Now, he will do it. So he decided at that moment to do the dishes.
But I do prefer the answer of… Yes my lady, I will do it immediately.
That would’ve been a better answer I reckon… ok!
And we use GOING TO when we have already decided to do something. It’s in our plan. When we made plans to do something.
Example:
Again my example:
Milena: Mi amor, remember to wash the dishes tonight please.
And he would say: Sorry, I can’t do it, I am going to go out with my friends tonight or another way he could say it: Sorry I can’t do it, I am going out with my friends tonight.
In this example, my husband has already decided to go out with his friends tonight. He didn’t think about washing the dishes. He planned going out with friends before.
BTW, Go out -> is a phrasal verb. To Go out means > salir (in Spanish)
Now how do we ask questions using the different version of the future tense, To be going to?
Right! Here is a statement.
Example: You are going to buy this book.
We are going to swap the subject with the verb.
Are you going to buy this book?
At the end of the day, remember this guys: if you’re tired of using the auxiliary verb will for future, feel free to use going to instead, only if you are unsure. But I do advise you to learn more about the future tenses in English in you spare time.
Crystal clear? Hopefully, this is crystal clear? :)
Wow, well done guys! You survived! We are approaching the end of the show!
Muchachos, Que la Fuerza te acompañe! Let the Force be with you.
In the next Short and Sweet episode, we will learn how to ask questions starting with a negative form of questioning such as, isn’t it, didn’t you? haven’t you? They are used when you want to express some sort of a surprise about something.
That’s going to be in the next Short and Sweet episode.
Don’t forget, all transcriptions are available on my website, www.www.englishmadesimple.net, if you have any questions on any of the topics we covered in this show, please let me know in the Facebook Group English Made Simple or on my website. This podcast is for YOU and I am here to help you learn! So let’s do this! Arrivederci! Hasta la proxima!