Formation of ‘to be going to’ for the future

The planned future with to be going to is formed by combining the progressive form (which is the present participle or simply the ing-form) of the verb ‘to go’ with the infinitive (base form) of the respective main verb. Compare the following examples as well as the table below:

• Example sentences of forming the planned future with ‘to be going to’:
  • “I’m going to clean my bike later.”
  • “Are you two going to visit us?”

Verb forms of ‘going to’

Example verb: ‘to run’

Positive/affirmative sentences

Person/pronoun	Positive	Short form	Interrogative form	Short form of question
I	I am going to run.	I’m going to run.	Am I going to run?	–
he/she/it	He is going to run.	He’s going to run.	Is he going to run?	–
we/you/they	We are going to run.	We’re going to run.	Are we going to run?	–

Negative sentences

Person/pronoun	Negative	Short form	Interrogative form	Short form of question
I	I am not going to run.	I’m not going to run.	Am I not going to run?	Aren’t* I going to run?
he/she/it	He is not going to run.	He isn’t going to run. or He’s not going to run.	Is he not going to run?	Isn’t he going to run?
we/you/they	We are not going to run.	We aren’t going to run. or We’re not going to run.	Are we not going to run?	Aren’t we going to run?

* This is a particular form. For the 1st person singular, ‘aren’t’ is used.

Further explanations related to the ‘Future with ‘going to’’

The following explanations relate to the topic ‘Formation of the planned future (to be going to)’ and may be helpful too:

• Use of the planned future (going to)
• Use of the future simple (will)
• Ways to express the future in English
• Exercise 1: future with ‘going to’