The present simple is used to talk about future events that are certain or fixed, such as facts, schedules or timetables. For example:
- The plane departs at 6 pm. (a timetable)
- The concert starts at 8 pm. (a schedule)
- Christmas falls on a Saturday this year. (a fact)
When using the present tense for the future, it’s also common to use an indication of time such as ‘tomorrow’, ‘next week’, “in two weeks”, “three hours from now” etc.
In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 3 in the category of FUTURE is defined:
PLANS: the present simple to talk about timetabled events in the future.
Not all of the English Grammar Profile examples suggest that there is a ‘future’ element:
- It begins at 8 o’clock in the evening.
- The class is on Monday.
- It starts at 6:00 pm and finishes at 7:00 pm.
A search in iWeb for:
is|begins|ends|finishes|starts _II _RA
1 STARTS AT 7PM 336
2 STARTS AT 8PM 271
PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE:
Do you mind if I have a party here?
The party starts at 8 PM.
3 STARTS AT 10AM 248
4 STARTS AT 6PM 246
5 STARTS AT 9AM 238
6 STARTS AT 11AM 186
7 STARTS AT 2PM 166
8 BEGINS AT 7PM 165
9 STARTS AT 7.30PM 158
10 STARTS AT 8AM 153
11 STARTS AT 1PM 149
12 STARTS AT 5PM 149
13 STARTS AT 4PM 147
14 IS AT 2PM 144
15 BEGINS AT 6PM 140
16 BEGINS AT 10AM 138
17 BEGINS AT 9AM 137
18 IS AT 3PM 136
is|begins|ends|finishes|starts _II _NPD
1 IS ON SATURDAY 1218
You know,
Juan Wayne‘s birthday is on Saturday.
2 IS ON SUNDAY 990
3 IS ON FRIDAY 904
4 STARTS ON MONDAY 808
5 BEGINS ON MONDAY 805
6 IS ON THURSDAY 749
7 IS ON MONDAY 698
8 BEGINS ON FRIDAY 670
9 IS ON TUESDAY 614
10 STARTS ON FRIDAY 612
11 IS ON WEDNESDAY 597
12 BEGINS ON THURSDAY 531
13 BEGINS ON SATURDAY 500
14 STARTS ON SATURDAY 478
15 STARTS ON THURSDAY 448
16 STARTS ON SUNDAY 433
17 BEGINS ON TUESDAY 406
18 ENDS ON SUNDAY 391
19 BEGINS ON WEDNESDAY 372
20 BEGINS ON SUNDAY 370
_VVZ tomorrow
1 STARTS TOMORROW 1391
2 BEGINS TOMORROW 658
3 ENDS TOMORROW 493
All that ends tomorrow at six a.m.
4 OPENS TOMORROW 452
His opera opens tomorrow night.
5 HAPPENS TOMORROW 439
6 CONTINUES TOMORROW 414
7 ARRIVES TOMORROW 236
8 COMES TOMORROW 200
9 LAUNCHES TOMORROW 176
10 GOES TOMORROW 143
11 CLOSES TOMORROW 120
12 RESUMES TOMORROW 107
13 EXPIRES TOMORROW 105
14 SAYS TOMORROW 105
15 RELEASES TOMORROW 102
AI:
The annual festival starts tomorrow.
The new semester begins tomorrow.
The sale ends tomorrow.
The art exhibition opens tomorrow.
The solar eclipse happens tomorrow.
Some of these refer to duration and not when something happens in future. They would still be considered A2 as time adjuncts.
verb + IN + number + noun of time
EVP:
USING TIME A2 needing or using no more time than a particular amount of time
_VV0 in _MC _NNT
1 GRADUATE IN FOUR YEARS 189
2 CHECK IN 30 MINUTES 57
3 GRADUATE IN 6 YEARS 47
4 WIN IN THREE YEARS 41
5 WIN IN FOUR YEARS 39
6 THINK IN 10 YEARS 37
7 WIN IN TWO YEARS 36
8 MATURE IN ONE YEAR 33
9 THINK IN 20 YEARS 29
10 SPEND IN 3 MONTHS 29
11 THINK IN FIVE YEARS 28
12 GRADUATE IN 4 YEARS 26
13 DIAL IN 10 MINUTES 25
14 WIN IN SIX YEARS 25
15 WIN IN FIVE YEARS 24
16 EXPIRE IN 30 DAYS 24
17 GERMINATE IN 7-14 DAYS 24
18 NEED IN ONE DAY 23
19 TITLE IN FOUR YEARS 22
20 LEAVE IN 2 WEEKS 18