Future Tense Question

Hi Guest,

All indeed acceptable, and dependent on the nuance you wish to communicate. This is a question I really should leave to California Jim, but I will get a start on it by presenting some loosely-quoted extracts from the viewpoints of Michael Lewis:


1. 'I will start my new job on Monday.' This form uses a modal: this sentence expresses the speaker's judgment of the probability of the future event based on the situation at the moment of speaking (as opposed to 'may/might/could/should/'etc).

2. 'I shall start my new job on Monday.' This also uses a modal: According to the speaker's perception of the situation at the moment of speaking, it is inevitable-- if he has anything to do with it-- that the event will occur.

3. 'I start my new job on Monday.' Used when the lexical meaning of the verb carries the full message. The speaker sees the future event as occurring quite independently of his volition.

4. 'I am starting my new job on Monday.' The speaker has in mind a precise event (the making of the arrangement) which predates Now, and an event (the performing of the action itself) which postdates Now, and sees these two events as linked and surrounding Now.

5. 'I am going to start my new job on Monday.' The speaker has evidence, external or internal, for the future event.

There is a sixth:

6. 'I am to start my new job on Monday.' The speaker sees the event as future fact, based on a formal announcement made by some authority.


For further insights of this nature, I recommend Mr. Lewis' The English Verb (ISBN 0-906717-40-X).