I can't come to school tomorrow. I __ my aunt
please, clarify this sentence and choose the correct answer from these choices:
[would visit - am visiting - will visit]
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5Starting to look like you want us to do your homework for you. Do you want to rephrase your question, indicating at least which you think it ought to be & why?– DoneWithThis.Commented Apr 15, 2015 at 15:35
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2 Answers
Generally, when we talk about arrangements in English, for us they are already happening. Because they are happening now (I mean the plan has started), we use the present continuous.
Usually, when we use WILL (in the "future simple"), this is a prediction or guarantee. We can't predict something that's already happening, so it's not normal to use will for plans.
We use would to say that something is a logical consequence of another thing. Usually this is because we don't think the second thing will happen.
In the original poster's example, visiting the mother is a plan. For this reason, if everything's normal, the most natural sentence is:
- I can't come to school tomorrow. I 'm visiting my aunt.
Hope this is helpful!
answered Apr 15, 2015 at 18:30
Araucaria - Not here any more.Araucaria - Not here any more.
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Hmm, but what about: "I can't come to school tomorrow. I will be visiting my aunt." ? -- EDIT: Whoa! Somebody has already downvoted you while I was writing this trivial comment. :(– F.E.Commented Apr 15, 2015 at 19:06
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ASIDE: I'm interested in your other currently-deleted-answer-post. That's the one where it seems you'll be trying to explain why the determinative "each" can't be used as an attributive modifier in NP structure (where the NP is the front element of an integrated relative, though I'm not sure if that relative info is needed here). Though, there might be possibly acceptable something like, "My son wants to join a team whose each and every member was fined last year", or maybe not. :)– F.E.Commented Apr 15, 2015 at 19:09
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@F.E. I was going to read some more grammar books, but "What then will the predicate constituent be with which that sentential subject is combined?" put me off! :D Commented Apr 15, 2015 at 20:31
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@F.E. Well, what I'm thinking is you can't have to central (H&P talk) deteminatives in the central determiner slot, especially with possessives. So you can't have "a my friend" or "my a friend" or "that my friend" or "my every friend" or "my each friend". There's only one central determiner there. If you want that kind of meaning you need to put the possessive info in in the form of a PP: "a friend of mine", "that friend of mine", "each friend of mine". Similarly *"a man whose some dogs bit me", or "a man whose each dog bit me", or "a man whose all dogs bit me" ... (cont) .. Commented Apr 15, 2015 at 21:24
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@F.E. ...(cont) Here we need "a man some dog's of whose bit me" and so forth and so on. But I think in phrases like "whose every move" and "her every move" and "her each and every move" those determiners, as you hint at, are modifiers in the nominal. What say you? Commented Apr 15, 2015 at 21:31
The most correct answer is none of those choices:
I will be visiting my aunt.
You're not visiting her now, but you will be tomorrow.
That being said, conversational English doesn't always have to be the most precise option. These would probably work as well:
I am visiting my aunt.
I am going to visit my aunt.
I will visit my aunt.
In all of those options, you could instead use a contraction (I'm or I'll), and might insert the preposition 'with' after 'visit':
I'll be visiting with my aunt.
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Hmmm. "I can't come tomorrow. I will visit my aunt". Not sure that's very normal English. Commented Apr 15, 2015 at 21:33
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@Araucaria Yeah, I would probably add an 'instead' to the end normally. "I can't come tomorrow, I'll visit my aunt instead." Commented Apr 15, 2015 at 21:37