Intermediate

My grammar notes
Future Time 1 Will, probably, may and might

Using will / wont

We use will and wont to give information about the future. We use it to say what we think
or guess will happen.

Ill be able to save up quite a bit of money.

We wont have a small wedding because we both have a lot of relatives and friends.
Ill review my costs and marketing strategy at the end of the year.

We use the following sentence structure with will and wont.

Subject + will / wont + infinitive

Ill be able to save up quite a bit of money.

We wont have a small wedding because we both have a lot of relatives and friends.

Notice that in the first example we use ___________. We dont use c______ after will.

We often use ______ with will and wont to show how certain we are about something.
When we use ______ it means we are nearly certain something will or wont happen.

Ill probably take a year out from university and travel around Asia before finishing my
degree.
Well probably go somewhere sunny by a beach.
Ill probably expand globally.
I probably wont take on any new staff in the immediate future.

We use the following structures with probably in positive and negative statements.
Subject + will + probably + infinitive

Ill probably take a year out from university and travel around Asia before finishing my
degree.
Well probably go somewhere sunny by a beach.

myClass Intermediate | British Council

Subject + probably + wont + infinitive

I probably wont take on any new staff in the immediate future.

I'll probably expand globally.
I probably won't take on any new staff in the immediate future.

Notice the difference between the use of probably in the two sentences. In a positive
sentence, it comes before / after will, and before / after won't in a negative sentence.

Using may / might

We also often use the modal auxiliaries may and might to say that something will
possibly happen in the future.

I might be going to work in Australia for the summer.

We may have a buffet, but I think we might go for a four-course meal.
I might work on updating my new design next year if things carry on in the same way.

We use the same structure to form a sentence using might and may as with will and
wont, can and cant. We use the same structure with all modal auxiliaries.
Subject + might / may + infinitive

I might be going to work in Australia for the summer.

We may have a buffet, but I think we might go for a four-course meal.
I might work on updating my new design next year if things carry on in the same way.

Notice that we dont use might and may with will. In the same way, we dont use the
modal can with will. This is because we only use one auxiliary verb in a sentence.

In your notebook, write some sentences about things you think will happen in your life in the
next five years.

myClass Intermediate | British Council