notes, "will go" vs. "am going"

“will go” vs. “am going”

http://www.geocities.com/gob72/grammarverbtenses.html#five

The Future Tenses

There are basically two forms of the future tense in English. Both forms are used to express actions or states in the future.

The first form is made up by the verb “to be” plus “going to” plus the verb in base form.

I am going to write a letter for you tomorrow.
She is going to travel to England next month.
Cecile and Arnaud are going to cook a French dish called ratatuie.
We are going to study tonight.

To construct an interrogative sentence in this tense you simply place the verb to be in front of the pronoun. Like this:

Are you going to visit your grandmother next summer?
Is she going to travel to England next month?
Are Cecile and Arnaud going to cook a French dish called ratatuie?
Are we going to study tonight?

To form the negative structure of this tense add the word not to the verb to be.

I am not going to go to class on Monday.
She is not going to travel to England next month.
Cecile and Arnaud are not going to cook an American dish.
We are not going to go out tonight.

The other tense used to express future in English is formed with the auxiliary “will” followed by a verb in the infinitive form of the main verb. The difference between these two tenses is understood in every day communication. We use will as the auxiliary for this tense. Here is the structure of the affirmative sentences:

It’s cold in here. I will close the door.
Doris and Rose will call you tonight, don’t forget it.
Patty will marry Joseph in two months.
I will take the English course next year.

To form a negative sentence in this tense won’t is used. Like this:

I won’t open the door just because you tell me so.
I won’t be home to take the call.
You won’t be invited to their wedding.
That class won’t be offered next semester.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071228023135AALkK4F

Use of I am going to:

when something is planned or arranged.

-I am going to Spain in a few days. ( I already have my tickets)

Use of will:

when the future is not planned or you make the decision at the moment of speaking.

-I’ll probably stay at home today.

“Will” implies an uncertain future, a desire. “Going to” is a closer one, much likely to happen. Compare:

A: What will you do when you finish high school?
B: I’m not sure yet. I think I will go to college to study Engineering.
A: Just like your brother?
B: Well, no. He’s going to college this year, but he’s going to study Economics.
A: Oh, I see.

Also, when you talk about an inmediate or expected (confirmed?) future you can use the ING form:

John’s getting married tomorrow.
I’m going to the movies tonight.
Jane’s having a baby in November.

Hope this helps!

http://www.myenglishteacher.net/willandbegoingtolessonprintable.html

Rules to Remember!

1 Sometimes will and be going to are interchangeable. In other words, it makes virtually no difference which one you use. At other times, however, the difference is significant. For example, when requesting a favor, don’t use be going to. 2

Most of the above are suggestions and generalizations about how native speakers use will and be going to. These are not absolute rules.

When using will in speech, using a contraction is very common. For example,

I’ll give you a hand.*

*I’ll give you a hand=I’ll help you

Marie hates movies. She won’t go with us.