Future:  be going to

e.g. I am going to buy a new car next month.

He is going to take a holiday next week.

She was going to go* shopping.

▌Be going to is not a tense. It is a special structure that we use to

talk about the future.

The form of this structure is:

Subject + be + going to + VB (base

form)

(+) I am going to buy a new car.

You are going to buy a new car.
He is going to buy a new car.
She is going to buy a new car.
We are going to buy a new car.
You are going to buy a new car.
They are going to buy a new car.

(?) Am I going to buy a new car?

Are you going to buy a new car?
Is he going to buy a new car?
Is she going to buy a new car?
Are we/you/they going to buy a new car?

(-) I am not going to buy a new car.

You are not going to buy a new car.
He is not going to buy a new car.
She is not going to buy a new car.
We/You/They are not going to buy a new car.

■ When do we use be going to?

→ be going to for future plans and intentions
We use ‘be going to’ to talk about future plans and intentions. It’s
important to know that the decision about these future plans and
intentions has been made before the moment of speaking!

e.g. She’s going to  be a professional dancer when she grows up.
I’m going to  look for a new place to live next month.
Jo has won the lottery. He says he's going to buy a Porsche.
We're not going to paint our bedroom tomorrow.
When are you going to go on holiday?

→ be going to for predictions

We often use ‘be going to’ to make a prediction about the future.
Our prediction is based on present evidence (what we can see). We
are saying what we think it will happen. Here are some examples:
 There are dark clouds in the sky. It's going to rain.
 It's 8.30! You're going to miss your train!
 I crashed the company car. My boss isn't going to be very
happy!

In these examples, the present situation (the dark clouds, the

time, the damaged car) gives us a good idea of what is going to
happen.

Note that we can also use be going to in other tenses, for
example:
 I was going to tell him but I forgot.

Gonna (informal contexts)
Spoken English:
We use ‘gonna’ instead of ‘going to’  in informal contexts, especially in speaking
and in song lyrics. We write gonna to show how to pronounce it:

e.g. Are you gonna try and get stuff sorted as soon as you

can, then? (Are you going to try and get things organised as
soon as you can?)
One day, I’m gonna be a star.