Page "Going-to future" Paragraph 6

The going to future is used when the speaker wishes to draw a connection between present events, situations, or intentions and expected future events or situations: " If you do not stop, you are going to be caught by the police and hauled back to jail.

" " Our houses are going to be swept away by the impending storm.

" This form sometimes indicates imminence but sometimes does not (" It's going to rain "; but " I'm going to visit Paris someday "); these same examples show that it sometimes indicates intention but sometimes does not.

The " will " and " going to " constructions are often interchangeable.

Both can be used in the past tense to denote former future intention ( e. g. " I was going to eat dinner, but decided not to "; " I knew I would do it the next day ") or former prediction (" It was going to rain "; " I thought it would rain the next day ").

Since it usually expresses the present relevance of the future event or situation it is the future counterpart to the perfect, which expresses the present relevance of past events or situations ; the two are sometimes contrasted as prospective and retrospective aspects.