Future Simple (Will): Decisions, Promises, Offers Practice Tests with A2 Grammar Rules & Examples

Future Simple (Will): Decisions, Promises, and Offers

Sometimes we make a decision at the exact moment we are speaking. Sometimes we want to promise something to another person. Sometimes we want to help someone. In all of these situations, we use Future Simple with will in English.

Look at these simple examples:

• "I'll have the pizza, please." (a decision made right now)
• "I will call you tomorrow." (a promise)
• "I'll carry that bag for you." (an offer to help)

In this lesson, you will learn how to form the Future Simple with will and how to use it for decisions, promises, and offers.

What Is "Will"?

Will is a special verb in English. We call it a modal verb. Do not worry about this term — it simply means that will is a helper word. It goes before the main verb to talk about the future.

Here is the most important rule:

Subject + will + base verb

The base verb is the simple form of the verb — no -s, no -ing, no -ed. For example: go, eat, help, call.

Examples:

• I will go to the shop.
• She will help you.
• They will eat dinner at home.

How to Form the Future Simple with Will

Positive Sentences (Affirmative)

To make a positive sentence about the future, use:

Subject + will + base verb + (rest of sentence)

Subject	Will	Base Verb	Example Sentence
I	will	help	I will help you.
You	will	love	You will love this film.
He	will	call	He will call you later.
She	will	come	She will come to the party.
It	will	be	It will be ready soon.
We	will	wait	We will wait for you.
They	will	arrive	They will arrive at seven.

Important: Will does not change for different subjects. We do NOT say "She wills go" or "He wills help". The form is always will for everyone.

Negative Sentences

To make a negative sentence, add not after will:

Subject + will not + base verb + (rest of sentence)

Subject	Will Not	Base Verb	Example Sentence
I	will not	forget	I will not forget your birthday.
He	will not	be	He will not be late.
She	will not	tell	She will not tell anyone.
We	will not	leave	We will not leave you alone.
They	will not	miss	They will not miss the train.

Questions

To make a question, put will at the beginning of the sentence, before the subject:

Will + subject + base verb + (rest of sentence)?

Will	Subject	Base Verb	Example Question
Will	you	help	Will you help me?
Will	he	come	Will he come to the meeting?
Will	she	call	Will she call us?
Will	they	be	Will they be at home?
Will	it	take	Will it take long?

Contractions: Will and Won't

In everyday English — when we speak and in informal writing — we often use contractions. A contraction is when we join two words together and use an apostrophe (') to replace the missing letter or letters.

Positive contraction: will → 'll

• I will → I'll
• You will → You'll
• He will → He'll
• She will → She'll
• It will → It'll
• We will → We'll
• They will → They'll

Negative contraction: will not → won't

• I will not → I won't
• She will not → She won't
• They will not → They won't

Examples with contractions:

• I'll carry your bags for you.
• She'll be back in ten minutes.
• We won't tell anyone, I promise.
• I'll have the chicken, please.

Note: Won't looks very different from will not, but they mean exactly the same thing. This is an irregular contraction — you simply need to remember it.

Three Main Uses of Will

1. Decisions Made Right Now

We use will when we make a decision at the moment of speaking — right now, in this second. We did not plan this before. Something happens and we decide immediately.

Imagine you are at a café. The waiter asks: "What would you like to eat?" You look at the menu and you decide now:

"I'll have the pasta, please."

You did not plan this at home. You decided right now. This is a spontaneous decision. The word spontaneous means something you do without planning.

More examples of decisions made right now:

• Your phone rings. You say: "I'll answer it."
• You are cold. You say: "I'll close the window."
• You see a spider. You say: "I'll catch it and put it outside."
• Your friend needs help moving furniture. You say: "I'll help you on Saturday."

2. Promises

We use will when we make a promise to someone. A promise is when you tell someone you will definitely do something. You are giving them your word.

Common situations for promises:

• A child says: "I will tidy my room, Mum, I promise."
• A friend says: "I won't tell anyone your secret."
• You say: "I'll always be here for you."
• Someone says: "I will pay you back on Friday."

Notice that we often use the word promise with these sentences, but it is not necessary. The use of will itself already sounds like a promise in many situations.

3. Offers to Help

We use will when we offer to do something for someone — when we want to help. In spoken English, we almost always use the contraction I'll for offers.

Common offer situations:

• Someone has heavy bags. You say: "I'll carry that for you."
• Someone is looking at a map. You say: "I'll show you the way."
• The phone rings in the office. You say: "I'll get it!"
• Your friend is cooking. You say: "I'll wash the dishes."

We can also make offers using Shall I...? or Shall we...? — but that is for another lesson. For now, focus on I'll... for making offers.

Summary Table: Three Uses of Will

Use	When do we use it?	Example
Decision	You decide something right now, at this moment.	"I'll have the orange juice, please."
Promise	You tell someone you will definitely do something.	"I won't be late, I promise."
Offer	You offer to do something helpful for someone.	"I'll help you with that."

Important Differences: Will vs. Going To

Many students ask: "When do I use will and when do I use going to?" This is a very good question. Here is the simple answer:

Will → for decisions made right now, promises, and offers.

Going to → for plans and decisions you made before now (you already planned it).

Look at these two situations:

Situation A: It is Monday. You are speaking to your friend. You say:
"I'm going to visit my grandmother on Saturday."
(You planned this before. It is already decided.)

Situation B: It is Saturday morning. You get a phone call. Your grandmother is not feeling well. At this moment, you decide:
"I'll go and see her right now."
(You decided this just now, at this moment.)

Remember: will = spontaneous (right now). Going to = planned before.

Common Mistakes

Here are the most common errors that students make with Future Simple will. Study these carefully!

❌ I will to go to the shop.
✅ Never use "to" after will. I will go to the shop.

❌ She wills help you.
✅ Will never changes — no -s for he/she/it. She will help you.

❌ I will not going to the party.
✅ Use the base verb, not -ing, after will. I will not go to the party.

❌ Will you help to me?
✅ No "to" before a pronoun here. Will you help me?

❌ I wont be late.
✅ Won't needs an apostrophe. I won't be late.

❌ I am going to call you now — I decide this second.
✅ Use will for decisions made right now. I'll call you now.

❌ I'll to have the salad, please.
✅ No "to" after a contraction of will either. I'll have the salad, please.

Useful Phrases and Time Expressions with Will

Here are some common words and phrases that we often use with will:

Time Expression	Example Sentence
tomorrow	I'll call you tomorrow.
soon	She'll be ready soon.
later	He'll come back later.
in a minute	I'll finish it in a minute.
next week	We'll visit them next week.
one day	I'll travel to Japan one day.
always	I'll always remember this day.
never	I'll never tell anyone.

Mini Story: Will in Action

Read this short story. Notice how will is used for decisions, promises, and offers.

It is a cold Saturday morning. Tom is sitting in a café with his friend, Anna. A waiter comes to their table.

Waiter: "Good morning! What can I get for you?"
Tom looks at the menu for a moment and says: "I'll have a large coffee and a croissant, please." (Decision made right now)
Anna says: "I'll have a hot chocolate, please." (Decision made right now)

The waiter leaves. Anna looks at her bag. She cannot find her purse.

Tom smiles and says: "Don't worry. I'll pay for both of us today." (Offer)
Anna looks worried. Tom says: "I promise, it's fine. You can pay next time. I won't forget!" (Promise)

Anna's phone rings loudly. Anna is looking for her phone in her bag. Tom says: "I'll get the waiter's attention while you answer that." (Offer)

Anna laughs. "Thank you, Tom! I'll bring you some cake from the bakery tomorrow — I promise!" (Promise and decision)

In this short story, you can see how natural and common will is in everyday conversation.

Future Simple (Will): Quick Summary

Here is everything you need to remember about the Future Simple with will:

• Use will + base verb to talk about the future.
• Use will for decisions made right now (spontaneous decisions).
• Use will for promises — when you give your word to someone.
• Use will for offers — when you want to help someone.
• Will never changes — it is the same for I, you, he, she, it, we, they.
• Never put to after will: say "I will go", not "I will to go".
• The negative is will not or the contraction won't.
• The positive contraction is 'll (e.g. I'll, she'll, they'll).
• For questions, put will first: Will + subject + base verb?
• Remember: will = decision right now. Going to = planned before.

Now practise Future Simple with will in the exercises below.