“Going to” and “will” can be used when talking about the future.
They are very similar in meaning and students are often unsure how to use them.
I will try to explain the differences in this article.
To learn more, read on.
Will vs Going to
Generally speaking, there is very, very little difference in meaning between the two.
In common speech and writing, people often use them interchangeably.
This does not mean that they are interchangeable. A lot of the time they are not.
There are rules you can follow, but be advised that these rules are sometimes broken.
This is because many of those rules sort of overlap in meaning and can be interpreted differently.
It can get a little tricky, but hopefully my explanations will help clear up some of the confusion you might be having right now.
Use the rules below as guidance.
Meaning #1: Simple future
By default, all future actions, events, etc should be described using “will“.
If your sentence does not fit any other meanings that you can find in this article, then you should probably use “will” rather than “going to”.
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Meaning #2: Intention
When you intend to do something, you say that you are “going to“ do it.
You intend to do things because you have planned to do them.
You should especially use “going to” if you have also made arrangements to do something.
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We do not use “will” in sentences like these. It is incorrect.
I am not saying that “will” is impossible. But if you used “will”, the meaning would change to something completely different.
It would no longer convey intention or a prior plan.
Meaning #3: Spontaneous decision
Sometimes we decide to do things spontaneously.
It means that we declare our intention to do something immediately after making the decision.
When that is the case, we always say that we “will” do something.
This is in contrast with the previous rule where the intention is preceded by a plan.
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These examples were unplanned.
If they had, they would take “going to”.
Meaning #4: Fact
Future facts are always described using “will“.
It is often used with events, actions, etc that happen regularly.
It is also used when talking about things that always happen.
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In some of these sentences “going to” is indeed possible.
But if I used “going to” instead of “will”, the meaning would change completely.
In fact, in most of these sentences “going to” simply would not make sense.
Take the first sentence as an example: “A helium balloon will float upwards.”
I am not talking about a specific balloon. I am talking about all helium balloons.
My intention is to describe how all helium balloons in the world behave.
I am almost tempted to say that, in sentences like these, “will” is used synonymously with “always”.
This is because “A helium balloon will float upwards” means exactly the same as “Helium balloons always float upwards”.
My advice to you is to never use “going to” when talking about facts.
Meaning #5: Evidence
This meaning is very similar to the meaning of certainty which you can find further down in this article.
Generally speaking, when we make predictions about future events we use “will”.
However, when our predictions are based on evidence and we think they are very likely, we often use “going to“.
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Anytime you have proof that a future action or event is likely to occur, you should not use “will”.
This is because predictions based on evidence are certain.
Meaning #6: Offer
When we make offers or invite people to do something, we use “will“.
“Going to” does not carry the sense of offering things to another person.
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Meaning #7: Promise
When you want to make a promise to someone, you would use “will“.
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“Going to” is sometimes possible in sentences like these, but they would no longer convey the sense of promise.
Meaning #8: Threat
You can threaten an action using “will“.
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Meaning #9: Refusal
When you want to refuse something – such as a request or command – you can use “will not“.
“Going to” is sometimes possible, but “will” is a better choice.
This is because “will” expresses a person’s willingness to do a particular thing.
“Going to” would change the meaning to something else.
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Meaning #10: Possibility
When you want to say that something is possible, you use “will“.
It is used very similarly to how we use “can”.
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“Going to” does not work with sentences like these.
Meaning #11: Prediction
Predictions not supported by evidence typically take “will“.
However, it is also possible to use “going to“.
Either way, the meaning stays the same.
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Meaning #12: Certainty
When something is certain and you are confident it will happen, you would use “going to“.
This way you can express the high likelihood of that thing happening.
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Meaning #13: Uncertainty
When something is uncertain and you are not confident it will happen, you would use “will“.
This way you can express a possibility that it might happen, even if it is not very likely.
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Meaning #14: Belief
A belief is something that is based on your personal feelings or opinions, but not evidence.
You cannot possibly know that it will happen. You just think it will.
When you only think something will happen, you should use “will“.
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Meaning #15: Request
When we want to ask someone to do something, we have many different words we can choose from.
“Will” is one of those words.
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“Going to” is not used for making requests.
Meaning #16: Order
When you want to tell someone to do something, you would use “will“.
This can extend to stating rules and regulations as well.
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Meaning #17: Habit
When talking about habits, we use “will“.
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Meaning #18: Immediate future
When something is about to happen, we use “going to“.
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We do not use “will” to talk about the immediate future.
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