Be about to Practice Tests with B1 Grammar Rules & Examples

Be About To

Sometimes we want to talk about something that is going to happen very soon — in the next few seconds or minutes. We use be about to for this.

Think about this situation: You are sitting in a cinema. The lights go off. The screen lights up. You say:

"The film is about to start!"

This means the film will start in just a moment. It has not started yet, but it will happen very soon.

We call this structure be about to + infinitive. It is a very useful way to talk about the immediate future — things that are just about to happen right now.

Here are a few more quick examples before we look at the rules:

• She is about to leave. (She will leave in a moment.)
• They are about to eat dinner. (Dinner is starting very soon.)
• I was about to call you! (I was just going to call you a moment ago.)

Rule Breakdown: How to Form "Be About To"

The structure of be about to is simple. You need three things:

Subject + correct form of "be" + about to + base verb (infinitive)

The verb be changes depending on the subject. Let's look at the present tense first.

Positive Sentences (Present)

Subject	Be	About to	Base Verb	Full Sentence
I	am	about to	leave	I am about to leave.
You	are	about to	start	You are about to start.
He	is	about to	call	He is about to call.
She	is	about to	sit down	She is about to sit down.
It	is	about to	rain	It is about to rain.
We	are	about to	eat	We are about to eat.
They	are	about to	arrive	They are about to arrive.

Important: After about to, always use the base form of the verb (the infinitive without "to"). Do not add -ing or -s.

❌ She is about to leaving.
✅ She is about to leave.

Contractions in Positive Sentences

In spoken English and informal writing, we often use contractions. A contraction is when we join two words together and use an apostrophe (') in place of the missing letter or letters.

Full Form	Contraction	Example
I am	I'm	I'm about to go.
You are	You're	You're about to win!
He is	He's	He's about to speak.
She is	She's	She's about to cry.
It is	It's	It's about to explode!
We are	We're	We're about to land.
They are	They're	They're about to start.

Negative Sentences with "Be About To"

To make a negative sentence with be about to, add not after the verb be.

Subject + be + not + about to + base verb

• I am not about to give up. (I will definitely not give up.)
• She is not about to apologise. (She will not apologise.)
• They are not about to leave. (They will not leave yet.)

In negative sentences, be about to + not can also show that we are strongly refusing to do something:

"I'm not about to change my mind!" — This means: I will absolutely not change my mind. I am determined.

Contractions in Negative Sentences

Full Form	Contraction	Example
I am not	I'm not	I'm not about to quit.
You are not	You aren't / You're not	You aren't about to fail.
He is not	He isn't / He's not	He isn't about to stop.
She is not	She isn't / She's not	She isn't about to give in.
We are not	We aren't / We're not	We aren't about to leave.
They are not	They aren't / They're not	They aren't about to agree.

Questions with "Be About To"

To make a question, move the verb be to the front of the sentence, before the subject.

Be + subject + about to + base verb?

• Are you about to leave?
• Is she about to call?
• Are they about to start the meeting?
• Am I about to make a mistake?

You can also use question words like what, why, who, where at the beginning:

• What are you about to do?
• Where is he about to go?
• Why are they about to leave so early?

"Be About To" in the Past Tense

We can also use was / were about to to talk about something that was going to happen very soon in the past — but it may or may not have actually happened.

Subject + was/were + about to + base verb

Subject	Past "be"	Example Sentence
I	was	I was about to leave when you arrived.
You	were	You were about to miss the train.
He / She / It	was	She was about to cry.
We	were	We were about to give up.
They	were	They were about to announce the winner.

We very often use the past form of be about to with when to show that one thing interrupted another:

I was about to call you when my phone died.
She was about to sit down when the fire alarm rang.
We were about to eat when the guests arrived.

Important Differences: "Be About To" vs Other Future Forms

At B1 level, you already know other ways to talk about the future. It is important to understand the difference between these forms.

"Be About To" vs "Going To"

Both be about to and going to talk about the future, but the time is different.

Structure	Time Frame	Example
be about to	Very immediate — happening in seconds or minutes	Hurry! The bus is about to leave!
going to	Near future — a plan or intention	I'm going to visit Paris next month.

"I'm going to phone her." — I plan to phone her (maybe today, maybe later).
"I'm about to phone her." — I am dialling right now. It is happening this moment.

"Be About To" vs Present Continuous

The present continuous (am/is/are + -ing) is also used for future plans, but usually for arrangements that are already fixed:

Structure	Use	Example
be about to	Something happening right now, in seconds	The president is about to speak.
Present Continuous	A fixed arrangement in the future	The president is speaking at 3pm tomorrow.

"Be About To" Does NOT Use Time Expressions

Because be about to already means very soon, we do not use time expressions like soon, tomorrow, next week, in five minutes with it.

❌ She is about to leave tomorrow.
✅ She is about to leave. (The meaning "very soon" is already included.)

❌ They are about to arrive in an hour.
✅ They are going to arrive in an hour.

Common Mistakes

❌ I am about to leaving.
✅ I am about to leave. (Use the base form of the verb, not the -ing form.)

❌ She about to start.
✅ She is about to start. (Do not forget the verb be.)

❌ He is about to goes home.
✅ He is about to go home. (Do not add -s or any other ending to the base verb.)

❌ We are about to to eat.
✅ We are about to eat. (Do not write "to" twice. "About to" already includes "to".)

❌ They are about to leave tomorrow.
✅ They are about to leave. (Do not use future time expressions with be about to.)

❌ Are about to you call?
✅ Are you about to call? (In questions, move be before the subject, not the whole phrase.)

Be About To: Quick Summary

Here is everything you need to remember about be about to:

• Meaning: Something is going to happen very soon — in seconds or minutes.
• Structure: Subject + be (am / is / are / was / were) + about to + base verb
• Positive: She is about to speak.
• Negative: She is not about to speak. / She isn't about to speak.
• Question: Is she about to speak?
• Past: She was about to speak when the power went off.
• Always use the base verb after about to — never add -ing, -s, or an extra "to".
• Do not use future time expressions (tomorrow, next week, soon) with be about to.
• Negative form can also express a strong refusal: I'm not about to apologise!

Now practise be about to in the exercises below.