Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[el7jake]

We have learned to use will or to be going to when make predictions.
And to use to be going to when there is a plan and will when is implied willingness. But I don't undestand saying "I'll see you later, or "Ill see you next week," Doesn't this imply a plan and therefore use of to be going to?

Jake L.[/b]

[Christine123]

This is a very good question. I am a English major with a concentration in Linguistics at my university. In one of my courses this semester my professor asked the class, all of whom are native English speakers and English majors, what is the difference between "will" versus "to be going to." No one could completely agree on their distinctions. The reason for this disagreement is because the uses of "will" and "to be going to" are divided by a blurry line. It is more common to use "to be going to" when referring to a a plan that has already been decided, or confirmed previously to the conversation, and "will" when confirmation was decided at the spur of the moment during the conversation, but not all examples will follow those models, nor is it rare to deviate from the models. For example: there is no difference in saying "It is going to rain today' versus "It will rain today."

I suppose the distinction between "I'll see you later and "I'm going to see you later" is that saying "I'm going to see you later" usually has some sort of specific plan of action that was decided before the conversation that is also usually pointed out in the conversation. For example "I'm going to see you next week, so make sure you bring your homework." On the other hand, saying "I'll see you next week" is usually said with nothing implicit to the plans of next week. Usually that is the end of the conversation.