Telephoning Roleplays- Future Tenses
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Talking about future plans, arrangements, predictions and spontaneous intentions on the phone with going to, Present Continuous and will review, including roleplays and model phrases.
Lesson Plan Content:
Telephoning Roleplays- Future Tenses Review
Choose situations from below and roleplay the whole telephone conversation from
beginning to end, including small talk if you are phoning someone who you already know.
There is no need to transfer calls if it doesn’t mention that below – you can usually just
speak directly to the person who you are phoning.
1. A forecast of extreme weather means that you need to go home early and reschedule
a meeting.
2. Ask for someone’s advice on whether you should invest in a country or not.
3. The person who you want to speak to isn’t there, so leave a message.
4. The person who you want to speak to is at lunch, but they only usually have a short
lunch.
5. The person who you want to speak to isn’t there, but you don’t need to leave a
message.
6. The person who you want to speak to isn’t there, but you don’t need to leave a
message because you have already decided to come to the office in an hour anyway.
7. You are too busy to talk now.
8. You aren’t sure when you can meet, so confirm later.
9. You have a ticket to fly to New York tomorrow for one week and want to meet the other
person while you are there.
10. You have already arranged to meet someone and you want your partner to come too.
11. You have an appointment to see someone in the other person’s office and want to see
them just before or after that meeting.
12. You phone to get directions to the venue of the meeting, but it’s too difficult to explain
on the phone.
13. You want someone to send something to you by post, so you need to dictate your
postal address to them.
14. You want to be put through to someone else. The person that you are speaking to
needs to check if that person is available before connecting you.
15. You want to meet in the station before you travel by train together.
16. You want to meet the other person. The first and second times you suggest aren’t
possible because of meetings that they have already arranged with their boss.
17. You want to meet the other person. The first time that you suggest isn’t possible
because of a regular weekly meeting.
18. You want to meet with the person you are phoning and one other person. You haven’t
checked with that person, but it shouldn’t be a problem.
Fill the gaps on the next page with the correct future tenses, thinking about whether it is:
-
an arrangement
-
a plan
-
a spontaneous decision made while you are speaking
-
a prediction (= your imagination of the future)
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2016
1. A forecast of extreme weather means that you need to go home early and reschedule
a meeting. – “The weather forecast said that there will be a typhoon and so I
________________________________________________ (leave) the office early.”
2. Ask for someone’s advice on whether you should invest in a country or not. – “Do you
think the economy ____________________________________________ (improve)?”
3. The person who you want to speak to isn’t there, so leave a message. – “Okay. I
___________________________________________ (pass) that message onto him.”
4. The person who you want to speak to is at lunch, but they only usually have a short
lunch. – “He’s having lunch but he _____________________(probably be back) soon.”
5. The person who you want to speak to isn’t there, but you don’t need to leave a
message. – “That’s okay, thanks. I _________________________(just call) again
later.”
6. The person who you want to speak to isn’t there, but you don’t need to leave a
message because you have already decided to come to the office in an hour anyway.
– “There’s no need to take a message thanks. I_____________________________
(come in) after this meeting anyway.”
7. You are too busy to talk now. – “I’m in a meeting at the moment, but I
______________ (phone) you back at 2pm.”
8. You aren’t sure when you can meet, so confirm later. – “I _____________________
(check) and phone you back as soon as I can.”
9. You have a ticket to fly to New York tomorrow for one week and want to meet the other
person while you are there. – “I _______________________________________(fly)
to New York on Monday and I’d like to see you while I’m there.”
10. You have already arranged to meet someone and you want your partner to come too.
– “I ______________________________(meet) John at 7 o’clock. Can you join us?”
11. You have an appointment to see someone in the other person’s office and want to see
them just before or after that meeting. – “I ___________________________________
(visit) a colleague of yours and would like to see you just before or after that.”
12. You phone to get directions to the venue of the meeting, but it’s too difficult to explain
on the phone. – “It’s too difficult to explain on the phone. I _____________________
(email) you a link to a map.”
13. You want someone to send something to you by post, so you need to dictate your
postal address to them. – “Hold on, I _________________________ (just get) a pen.”
14. You want to be put through to someone else. The person that you are speaking to
needs to check if that person is available before connecting you. – “Just a moment. I
____________________________________________(just check) if he’s available.”
15. You want to meet in the station before you travel by train together. – “The train
____________ (leave) at 3:30. How about meeting at 3:15 in front of the ticket office?”
16. You want to meet the other person. The first and second times you suggest aren’t
possible because of meetings that they have already arranged with their boss. – “I’m
afraid I ___________________________________(meet) my boss at that time.”
17. You want to meet the other person. The first time that you suggest isn’t possible
because of a regular weekly meeting. – “I’m afraid my team always
_______________________________________ (have) a meeting at that time.”
18. You want to meet with the person you are phoning and one other person. You haven’t
checked with that person, but it shouldn’t be a problem. – “I need to check with my
colleague but it _____________________________________ (probably be) okay.”
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2016
Suggested answers
1. A forecast of extreme weather means that you need to go home early and reschedule
a meeting. – “The weather forecast said that there will be a typhoon and so I’m going
to leave the office early.”
2. Ask for someone’s advice on whether you should invest in a country or not. – “Do you
think the economy will improve?”
3. The person who you want to speak to isn’t there, so leave a message. – “Okay. I’ll
pass that message onto him.”
4. The person who you want to speak to is at lunch, but they only usually have a short
lunch. – “He’s having lunch but he will probably be back soon.”
5. The person who you want to speak to isn’t there, but you don’t need to leave a mes-
sage. – “That’s okay, thanks. I’ll just call again later.”
6. The person who you want to speak to isn’t there, but you don’t need to leave a mes-
sage because you have already decided to come to the office in an hour anyway. –
“There’s no need to take a message thanks. I’m going to come in after this meeting
anyway.”
7. You’re too busy to talk.– “I’m in a meeting at the moment, but I’ll phone you back at
2pm.”
8. You aren’t sure when you can meet, so confirm later. – “I’ll check and phone you back
as soon as I can.”
9. You have a ticket to fly to New York tomorrow for one week and want to meet the other
person while you are there. – “I’m flying to New York on Monday and I’d like to see you
while I’m there.”
10. You have already arranged to meet someone and you want your partner to come too.
– “I’m meeting John at 7 o’clock. Can you join us?”
11. You have an appointment to see someone in the other person’s office and want to see
them just before or after that meeting. – “I’m visiting a colleague of yours and would
like to see you just before or after that.”
12. You phone to get directions to the venue of the meeting, but it’s too difficult to explain
on the phone. – “It’s too difficult to explain on the phone. I’ll email you a link to a map.”
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2016
13. You want someone to send something to you by post, so you need to dictate your
postal address to them. – “Hold on, I’ll just get a pen.”
14. You want to be put through to someone else. The person that you are speaking to
needs to check if that person is available before connecting you. – “Just a moment. I’ll
just check if he’s available.”
15. You want to meet in the station before you travel by train together. – “The train is
leaving/ leaves at 3:30. How about meeting at 3:15 in front of the ticket office?”
16. You want to meet the other person. The first and second times you suggest aren’t pos-
sible because of meetings that they have already arranged with their boss. – “I’m
afraid I’m meeting my boss at that time.”
17. You want to meet the other person. The first time that you suggest isn’t possible be-
cause of a regular weekly meeting. – “I’m afraid my team always has a meeting at that
time.”
18.
You want to meet with the person you are phoning and one other person. You haven’t
checked with that person, but it shouldn’t be a problem. – “I need to check with my col-
league but it will probably be okay.”
Which future forms are most common in telephone calls and why? What about for
making arrangements?
Choose phrases from above and continue telephone conversations from that point.
Then roleplay some of the situations above which you didn’t try before.
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2016
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