Cover of the textbook Outcomes Upper-Intermediate - Student's Book

The key answer of exercise 7

The key to exercise solutions in chapter 2 - Worth a visit for the textbook Outcomes Upper-Intermediate - Student's Book with authors Hugh Dellar and Andrew Walkley from National Geographic Learning

Question

In sentences 1-6, either one or two of the three options are incorrect when talking about the future. In pairs, discuss your choices.

Answer

  1. a and c are both correct and both mean basically the same thing. b is wrong. We can’t use the present continuous to make predictions about the future.
  2. a and b are both correct and both mean basically the same thing. c is wrong. We can’t use the present simple to talk about future arrangements with other people.
  3. Only b is correct. For predictions about the immediate future based on present evidence, we don’t generally use will. The present continuous would be incorrect as fainting would be too sudden to use a continuous form.
  4. a and c are both correct and both mean basically the same thing. We can’t use the present simple to make predictions about the future.
  5. a and c are both correct and both mean basically the same thing. We don’t use will to ask about future plans / arrangements.
  6. Only a is correct. We don’t use the present simple or be going to + verb to make offers.