The BLACK HOLE of Predicting the Future

This lesson is about black holes.

Or at least that's what the title says.

It's really about.. predicting the future. But not the future of the universe and the world. It's simply about predicting the future of a lonely office employee who has a crisis with the photocopying machine.

But as the the Chinese proverb says, Crisis is Opportunity.

So, anyway. Let's practice some English. Let's predict the FUTURE with WILL or GOING TO.

What’s the difference? It’s subtle.

WILL suggests you are more certain about your prediction than GOING TO. As a result, it’s more common to hear GOING TO.

EXAMPLES:
What do you think John will do? / I think he’ll sign the contract.
What do you think John is going to do? / I think he’s going to sign the contract. (Pronounced “gonna” in Am. Eng)

So are YOU ready to enter the BLACK HOLE and PREDICT the future? If so…

a. PLAY THE VIDEO UP TO 0:30 only. Then press PAUSE (That means don't continue watching the video)

OK, what's going to happen next? (write your answer somewhere, we'll wait while you go get something to write with). Fill in the blank.

I think the photocopy machine will / is going to ________________.



b. PLAY THE VIDEO UP TO 01:00. Then press PAUSE

What's going to happen next?

I think the office employee will / is going to _________________.

c. PLAY THE VIDEO UP TO 01:30. Then press PAUSE

What's going to happen next?

I think the office employee will / is going to _________________.

d. PLAY THE VIDEO UP TO 0 2:00. Then press PAUSE

What's going to happen next?

I think the office employee will / is going to _________________.

e. PLAY THE VIDEO UP TO 0 2:30. Then press PAUSE

What's going to happen next?

I think the office employee will / is going to __________________.


Suggested Answer Key:
a. print a white paper with a black hole
b. put his hand through the black hole.
c. take a chocolate/candy bar from the vending machine
d. take money from the safety box
e. There is no right prediction. Your guess is as good as ours.

Moral of the story: Use WILL / GOING TO to predict the future, but beware of mysterious photocopy machines, English Users.

SAY or TELL, what's the difference?

Well, here at PLS English Users we do have something to say about when to use SAY and when to use TELL.

Here are some guidelines...

SAY

We use it to report someone's words:

• Bill said, "I'm tired"
• Bill said that he was tired.

We use say followed by 'to' before the object:

• What did he say to you?

We use say to ask about languages :

• How do you say 'water' in Spanish?

We use say for the following:

• Bill said hello.
• She left without saying goodbye.
• Remember to say please.
• Please say congratulations on my behalf.
• I just called to say Merry Christmas / Happy New Year / Happy Birthday / etc.

TELL

We use tell to provide information or to give orders:

• Could you tell me how to get to the Marriot hotel?
• Tell Tom that I cancelled the meeting.

You might have noticed that tell is followed directly by the object :

• Did Mary tell you what happened?

We also use tell for the following:

• Tom is good at telling stories.
• Could you tell me the time?
• Tell me your name, please.
• Don’t tell me lies.
• Hey, I’m telling the truth.
• I can’t tell the difference between these two products.