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1 The verb forms that have future reference in the emails are:
going + to-infinitive: Ernesto and Audrey are going to be there …
will + be + -ing (called the future continuous): When will you be arriving? Laura Sánchez will be flying in at about 11; Will you be collecting the keys on Monday?
will + bare infinitive: I’ll be at the airport already; I’ll take you to the hotel; I’ll be at the hotel before 12; [I] will let you know; I’ll be in touch.
present simple: … when you arrive; I arrive in Osaka at 8.20am …
present progressive: we are leaving early tomorrow …
may/might + infinitive: We may be here tomorrow night; We might need to wait on for an hour.
Other verb forms that often have future reference include
the verb to be: The president is to give a speech Thursday in Ohio.
will + have + past participle (called the future perfect): The president will have pulled off a real coup.
2 a How certain?: The choice of future form is popularly considered to be determined by the degree of certainty of the future event. But this can be refuted by the addition of adverbs, which have the effect of neutralizing any supposed differences between degrees of certainty. For example:
I’ll definitely/probably take you to the hotel.
I’ll be definitely/probably taking you to the hotel.
I’m definitely/probably going to take you to the hotel.
I’m definitely/probably taking you to the hotel.
b How soon? In terms of the proximity of the future event, this, too, can be disproved by reference to context: all five examples are compatible with ‘when you arrive on Monday’ or ‘when you arrive next April’, for example.
c What caused it?: It seems more likely, therefore, that the choice of future form is determined by how the future event is perceived to have been motivated: was it planned, arranged or scheduled beforehand or is it being decided at the time of utterance? Is it a prediction based on present evidence or not? Is it something I wish to happen, or is it happening as a matter of course?
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