The concert will start tomorrow at 6:00 pm.
Or
The concert starts tomorrow at 6:00 pm.
asked Apr 5, 2018 at 21:24
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1Neither is better. We combine the present tense with a future date all the time, especially in spoken English. We leave tomorrow at dawn. We are leaving tomorrow at dawn. We will/shall leave tomorrow at dawn. They're much of a muchness. Suit yourself!– Ronald SoleApr 5, 2018 at 21:33
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@ٌRonald Sole My teacher is really making for us a concert tomorrow at 6:00 pm. So which is better "will start" or "starts"?– Mohamed MagdyApr 5, 2018 at 21:37
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1Ronald Sole already explained: neither is "better". They mean the same thing.– stangdonApr 5, 2018 at 22:22
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I would choose the second as it sounds slightly more like everyday conversational English and flows a little better, but that is in no way to suggest the first is not perfectly correct.– John DavisApr 5, 2018 at 22:34
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2 Answers
I feel certain there is an answer to this question already, but I can't find it. So, I will answer it briefly.
The concert starts at 6PM tomorrow.
The concert is starting at 6PM tomorrow.
The concert will start at 6PM tomorrow.
All of these convey the same timing and are all grammatically/stylistically correct.
If you are forced to nit-pick, typically present tense is used when you are mentally already in the future. In other words, if you very excited for or very weary of a future event, you are more likely to use present tense. A simple future might imply a sense of indifference: you are stating it without getting involved in the event emotionally. Once again, I cannot state enough that this is nit-picking. There's no such "rule".
So, a concert promo poster might use present tense to convey a sense of excitement.
Concert starts at 6PM sharp! Bring your friends!
On the other hand, a safety bulletin might use future tense because it is meant to be conveyed as a matter of fact, and without emotion:
The concert will start at 6PM. We will make an announcement at 5:50PM informing the attendants of all the fire exits.
(1) The concert will start tomorrow at 6:00 pm.
(2) The concert starts tomorrow at 6:00 pm.
If you know for a fact that the concert starts at the scheduled time, always use (2). Under normal circumstances, this will be the case. So it's the more natural.
If, for some reason, however, you're not certain about the concert schedule, (1) will sound better than (2).
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@Araucaria - I assume because it is wrong. Sure, (2) is more natural, but (1) doesn't imply uncertainty. Maybe if it were "The concert should start at 6."– JustinSep 30, 2019 at 17:52
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@Justin I think it depends on the degree of certainty involved. If you're 95% sure (put an arbitrarily very high cut off point as you see fit), you'll probably use (1), but you have to view it as a certainty at the point of speaking to use (2). The more accurate description of when to the present simple is that we can use it when an event has been scheduled/timetabled for a specific time. We therefore view it as a given fact. Sep 30, 2019 at 18:01