Business English 'Going to' Game

Business English going to for future plans sentence guessing game

Choose one of the sentences below and tell your partner(s) one thing you are going to do to prepare before you start doing it, e.g. “I am going to buy a desk”. They should try to guess which sentence below you are preparing for. If they are wrong, give them another clue, e.g. “I am going to borrow some money off my parents”. When they correctly guess which sentence below you chose, switch roles and continue playing the same game.

Future plans to describe the preparation for

• You are going to ask a colleague to marry you
• You are going to ask your boss for a pay rise
• You are going to change departments
• You are going to cut down your commuting time
• You are going to employ someone who doesn’t speak your language
• You are going to give a presentation in English to the board of directors
• You are going to give a retirement party for your boss
• You are going to go freelance
• You are going to go on a business trip abroad
• You are going to have a Xmas office party
• You are going to have an interview for a new job in a multinational company
• You are going to kill your direct boss
• You are going to make a telephone call in English
• You are going to meet your CEO for the first time
• You are going to move desks
• You are going to move out of your company accommodation
• You are going to renovate the office
• You are going to sack someone
• You are going to start a fire in the warehouse to get the insurance money
• You are going to start an intensive English course
• You are going to start your own company
• You are going to take a long weekend
• You are going to take some foreign visors on a tour of your company
• You are going to work all night
• You are going to work in a dangerous area
• You are going to write a company newsletter

Going to grammar presentation

Why do we use “going to” in the sentences above and not “will”?

Which future tense is used for plans, ambitions and goals? Which one is used for predictions about things you cannot change?

Further practice

Play the same game as before but with your own ideas. Write down one (true or imaginary) future plan that will need preparation without showing it to your partner, then give hints until they guess.