Going to

          Study this situation:                                                Read in Khmer

          Mr. Sambath and Miss Thida have married for 5 years. They work so hard to save some money. Having seen this situation, one of their friends asked, “why are you working so hard?” “We are going to buy a house.” they said

          Get started:

          Have they decided to buy a house before they tell their friend?

          `

          (If you aren’t sure, look at the use below)

          Here is the way we form sentences with ‘going to’.

                    Positive:

                   Subject +am/is /are + going to+ bare infinitive + ...

         

·        David is going to make a party tomorrow.

·        Dany and I are going to marry soon.

·        I am going to meet my friends next week.

Note¹: with the verbs ‘come’ and ‘go’, it is possible to say:

·        I am going to go to the market.

·        She is going to come here this evening.

But we prefer to use the present continuous with these verbs ​ to express the same action or situation.

·        I am going to the market. (rather than I am going to go....)

·        She is coming here this evening. (rather than She is going to come ...)

Note^2:  In an informal way, mainly in American English, ‘be going to’ is often pronounced as /’gənə/ and spelled as ‘gonna’.

·        What are they gonna do this evening?

·        She is gonna cook curry.

Negative:

          Subject + am/is/are +NOT+ going to+ bare infinitive+...

·        He isn’t going to finish his work. (isn’t=is not)

·        They aren’t going to make a big profit. ( aren’t =are not)

·        Nary isn’t going to teach.

Question:

          (Wh- word) +am/is /are+ subject + going to+ bare infinitive+...?

·        Are you going to eat fish for dinner?

·        When is he going to write the report?

·        Are they going to use the computer?

Short answer:

          Are they going to finish on time?

                   Yes, they are

                   No, they aren’t

          Is she going to run a business?

                   Yes, she is

                   No, she isn’t

          Are you going to study Korean?

                   Yes, I am

                   No, I’m not  (not  No, I amn’t )

‘Going to’ is used:

1.     when we have decided/ intended  to do something before we speak.

·        Mary has saved money for a few years. She is going to buy a house.

·        My sons want to be businessmen. They aren’t going to work for others.

·        I have bought a present. I am going to give it to my mom.

2.     to say that a situation or action will happen in the future because we see the evidence that can cause that situation or action to take place.

·        He has drunk a lot of beer. He is going to be drunk.

·        Dara isn’t selling well nowadays. He is going to make a small profit.

·        Sara starts work at 8 and she usually spends 15 minutes to commute. Now it is 7:52. She is going to be late.

      3.  to say that something will happen in the future because we got the information   about it from somebody or the media.

·        The weather forecast said that a storm is going to blow up in the next few days.

·        Sovann told me that he is going to marry next week.

·        Did you know that Susan is going to leave Cambodia ?

Compare with ‘will’

Test yourself on this lesson: ‘Going to’ exercise

Thanks for reading!