‘BE GOING TO DO’ AND ‘WILL DO’ EXPRESSING PREDICTIONS AND DECISIONS © Leonard Cichos UE Both of these constructions can be used to express predictions and decisions, but of two different kinds. Study the examples in the table: PREDICTIONS DECISIONS BE GOING TO DO A: Oh, have you heard about Jane? She has had an accident and is in hospital with a seriously injured arm and leg. B: Yes, I know. I’m going to visit her this afternoon and take her some fruit. From this dialogue we can conclude that B has already decided to visit J. and now is just communicating his decision to A. The decision was made some time ago and is expressed at the time of speaking. WILL DO A: Oh, have you heard about Jane? She is in hospital after a bad bike accident. B: No! How did that happen? A: She was knocked down by a speeding car and suffered some injuries. B: Gosh! Well, then, I’ll go and visit her this afternoon. A: OK, we’ll go together, shall we? In this situation the decisions are made by the speakers on the spot- quite spontaneously, and immediately verbalized. ‘Be going to do’ is used to express premeditated decisions = decisions made before the time of speaking. (The speaker only announces what (s)he has previously decided to do.) ‘Will do’ is used to express spontaneous decisions made at the time of speaking and announced immediately (The speaker spontaneously decides to do sth. at the time of speaking = immediately declares his willingness to do that.) Just look at the aggressive crowd facing the police. There is going to be a big riot! Knowing how aggressive football fans can be, this will end in a riot. I think the hooligans won’t give in without a fight. According to the recent forecasts released by the Ministry of Finance inflation will reach 3.5% in the second half of the year. ‘Be going to’ is used to express strong, personal predictions based on the speaker’s observation of the current situation. The speaker is convinced that something is inevitable and says that it is going to happen. ‘Will do’ is used to express neutral predictions of future facts, events and situations based on the speaker’s knowledge, assumptions or belief.
