Future tense

Spot on. In the phrase "going to", "going" does not always indicate the verb "to go", sometimes it only introduces future tense.

The thing to look out for is whether or not the "to" is a preposition (as in "to New York") or an infinitive (as in "to see a movie"). If it's a preposition, you've got the verb "to go". If it's an infinitive, you've got future tense. So "I'm going to New York" would be present tense "to go".

Just to make things confusing, however, "I'm going to New York" might still be in the future, especially if followed by something like "next Tuesday", but for a different reason. This is because present tense is sometimes used to indicate future action, especially if the action is imminent or in the near-future. Other qualifiers (like "next Tuesday") usually make this clear though.

So in summary:
1. I am going to a movie ---> "to" is a preposition so this is present tense "to go"
2. I am going to see a movie ---> "to" is an infinitive so this is future tense "to see"

(although 1. might also describe a future event).

Rommie

Yes. That's it. Absolutely.

Rommie.

I assumed that, before this discussion, the original poster would have analysed "going to run" as "going to" + "run" (a present tense verb), and that he/she now analyses it as "going" + "to run" (an infinitive verb). If so, they have understood.

The noun variants ("going to France") were ones I invented for demonstration. Yes, these are "going to" + noun.

If our guest is still unclear, I suggest he/she ask some more.

Rommie

I understood, and thanks for the thorough reply. My original question was if "going to" was an actual verb itself or not.

Jack