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I heard that natives use Present Cont. to describe things in the future. As I understood, we use Present Cont. when we have arranged an action or there is at least one person with whom we agreed to have plans.

But I saw this:

  1. I am teaching English tomorrow.
  2. I will be teaching English tomorrow.

What is the difference and when I should use Present Cont. to describe action in the future?

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  • Please use the search bar and look for "future continuous present continuous future". I'm pretty sure it's been answered here several times already.
    – gotube ♦
    Commented Nov 5, 2023 at 21:55
  • The biggest difference is that #1 is only "future" because of the word tomorrow. The actual verb form is the same regardless of whether the intended sense is current or future. And the same applies with the non-continuous form - Present: I work here today, Future: I work here tomorrow.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Nov 6, 2023 at 4:37
  • You would be more likely to use the present continuous in the context of a conversation about your timetable, or when telling someone what your commitments are during the coming week - but there isn't a strict rule about it.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Nov 6, 2023 at 10:06

1 Answer 1

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"I'm teaching English tomorrow," thought technically incorrect, is an acceptable colloquialism, especially in a conversation.

The same applies to the present tense used to describe something in the past, as in:

"Last week, I'm walking down the street, not bothering anyone, and suddenly this lady comes up to me and says ..."

"I will be teaching English tomorrow" is grammatically correct.

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  • 4
    It's not "technically incorrect"; it's a standard construction and perfectly good English. What's your source for this being wrong?
    – alphabet
    Commented Nov 5, 2023 at 20:42
  • 2
    And the "Last week..." sentence is also grammatically correct. It's called the "historical present".
    – gotube ♦
    Commented Nov 5, 2023 at 21:49
  • @alphabet: What is your source for "2+2=5" being wrong?
    – Ricky
    Commented Nov 5, 2023 at 23:20
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    @Ricky My source, Huddleston & Pullum's The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, calls this construction the futurate, though of course the terminology differs between sources. Compare sentences like "The sun sets at 8pm tonight" or "Our flight leaves tomorrow." There are a number of rules about where this can and can't be used.
    – alphabet
    Commented Nov 5, 2023 at 23:53
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    "Correct" English is defined by what people actually say, not by "common sense".
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Nov 6, 2023 at 4:39

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