Talking about the Future- the Same or Different?

Talking about the future the same or different

Without looking below, listen to your teacher and raise one of the two cards that you have been given depending on what you think about the meaning of the things that you hear. If there are more than two phrases, they are all the same or all different (different, different, and different again). Things which are similar but not exactly the same are “Different”.

Label the lines below with “S” for “The same” or “D” for “different”.

Useful phrases for talking about similarities “They are (absolutely) identical.” “They are (exactly) the same.” Useful phrases for explaining differences “They are almost/ nearly/ virtually identical, but…” “They are almost/ nearly/ virtually the same, but…”  “They are (fairly/ very) similar, but…” “They are completely/ almost completely/ very/ a bit different, because…” “They have (almost/ nearly) opposite meanings, because…” “…, whereas/ while…” “… In (complete) contrast,…” “…, but…”

Check your answers as a class. 

Test each other on the language in small groups by:

• playing the same holding up cards game
• saying phrases with different meanings and seeing if your partner can explain the difference
• saying a phrase and then saying a phrase which has the same meaning but with a word missing for your partner to complete
• saying a phrase and seeing if your partner can say something that has the same meaning

Do the other language work below.

Future verbs and adverbs the same or different

• I’m planning to/ I’ve arranged to
• I’m seeing him soon./ I’m going to see him soon./ I’m planning to see him soon./ I’ll see him soon.
• I’m planning to go there./ I’m thinking about going there.
• I’ve arranged to meet him/ I’m meeting him
• I’m meeting him while I’m in the US./ I’ll be meeting him while I’m in the US.
• may change/ might change
• may well decrease/ might well decrease
• could appear/ could possibly appear
• will definitely increase/ will surely increase
• I’m looking forward to seeing it again/ I expect to see it again/ I hope to see it again
• I want to see it again/ I hope to see it again/ I wish I could see it again
• would like to go/ would love to go
• would like to go/ want to go
• will rain/ is going to rain
• Don’t worry, I’ll buy some. / Don’t worry, I’m going to buy some.
• I’ll go/ I would go

Future time expressions the same or different

• this evening/ tonight
• at midday/ at noon/ at twelve p.m.
• in two days/ in two days’ time/ the day after tomorrow/ two days from now
• in ten years/ in a decade
• in two weeks/ in two weeks’ time/ in a fortnight
• in three days/ on Wednesday
• in the next week/ in the next seven days/ within the next seven days
• in the next week/ next week
• in two days/ two days later
• two days later/ two days after that
• in a month/ this time next month/ at this time next month
• in two days/ within two days
• within five days/ within five working days
• on Monday/ by Monday
• within three days/ by Wednesday (evening)
• by the end of this (working) week/ by close of business on Friday
• at the end of this week/ by the end of this week
• I’ll do it by Monday/ I’ll do it until Monday
• I’ll do it for six days/ I’ll do it until Saturday
• in a couple of days/ in a few days/ in a week or so
• I’ll see you this weekend/ I’ll see you at the weekend
• next summer/ in the summer
• in 2030/ in the 2030s
• See you later/ See you again sometime
• one day/ someday/ sometime
• sometime/ sometimes
• I’m seeing him on Monday/ I’m seeing him next Monday
• at Xmas/ on Xmas Day

 

Cards to hold up 

The same	Different
The same	Different
The same	Different
The same	Different
The same	Different
The same	Different
The same	Different

 

Talking about the future synonyms presentation

Without looking above for now, write at least one synonym for each of the things below, making sure that what you write has exactly the same meaning.

 

I’ve arranged to see him on Monday.

 

This may well change.

 

I want to go.

 

at midday

 

in two days

 

in ten years

 

in two weeks

 

on Wednesday

 

in the next week

 

two days later

 

at this time next month

 

within five working days

 

by close of business on Friday

 

I’ll do it until Monday

 

in two or three days

 

I’ll see you at the weekend

 

sometime

 

during the Xmas period

 

on 25 December

 

Check above. Many other ways of saying those things are possible, so please check if you wrote something different.

 

Prepositions with future time expressions presentation

As you fill in the gaps below, try to work out what the rules are for different prepositions (and no preposition) with time expressions. Other prepositions are often possible, but just use “at”, “on”, “in” and “-” (= no preposition) (not “during”, “by”, etc).

___ a couple of days

___ a decade

____ a few minutes

____ a fortnight

____ August (this year)

by close of business _____ Friday

___ five working days

____ four minutes past five

____ Friday

____ half past seven

I’m seeing him _____ Monday

I’m seeing him ______ next Monday

___ later (today)

____ later this week

____ midday

____ next summer

____ next year

____ quarter to…

See you ____ later

See you again ______ sometime

___ someday

____ soon

____ Sunday (evening)

____ ten past six this evening

____ ten years (from now)

____ the day after tomorrow

____ the end of the week

____ the end of this week

____ the middle of next week

______ the next couple of days

_____ the next seven days

_____ the next week

_____ the summer

____ the week after next

____ this evening

____ this time next week

____ this weekend

____ three p.m.

___ tomorrow (morning)

____ tonight

___ (the year) twenty thirty

____ Xmas

____ Xmas Day

 

Fill the correct prepositions in each of the rules below and use that to start checking the gap-filling task above. 

______ + a length of time measured from now (= the opposite of “… ago”)

 

______ + a point in time

 

______ + a day and/ or date

 

______ = somewhere within a longer period of time such as a season or century

 

______ + certain other time expressions which don’t match any of the groups above, such as special holiday seasons

 

______ + “this” and “next” (and “last”), plus a few other expressions with the similar meanings such as “the year after next”

 

_______ + “later”, “soon” and words beginning with “some…” which mean that the time isn’t fixed

 

Check your answers to this task, then make sure that all of your answers on the next page match those rules.

Check all your answers as a class.

Test each other by:

• reading out a blanked sentence for your partner to try to think of the preposition for
• reading out a preposition and seeing how many examples your partner can think of with that preposition (with other correct things not above also okay)