تفاوت will/be going to/present continuous

Sarah, can you close the door please?

Sure, I am going to close the door!

Thanks, but

you’ve made a mistake…

Say:

I will close the door!

Oh,

I always have problem with WILL,

BE GOING TO, and PRESENT CONTINIUSE for future!

It’s Ok…

Let me tell you a story.

for example,

a man goes to the airport.

He’s carrying his suitcase.

There’s a passport, some clothes and a ticket in his suitcase.

He goes to the check-in desk and he’s like,

“I’m flying to Spain later today.

This is the present continuous!

We use present continuous for the future arrangement!

It’s called an arrangement because it’s like a plan,

and there’s an evidence for that plan!

In this example, he has the ticket

and the ticket is the evidence of that plan.

Ok.

Let’s go back to the story!

The lady at the check-in desk says,

“Sorry, the flight’s been canceled, but you can fly to Australia or Russia”!

since it’s a big decision the man goes to the café to think about it…

He comes back and he says,

“I’m going to fly to Australia.

That’s be going to for a future plan.

He’s had time to think about it before speaking!

But does he have a ticket?

No… So it’s not an arrangement.

It’s a plan.

A plan is an idea made sometime before talking about it!

The lady behind the check-in desk says,

“Sorry, you took too long in the café!

That flight has gone!

But you can still fly to Russia”

And then the man is like, “Ok, I will fly to Russia”

Now we have will for the future!

It’s based on a decision made at the moment of speaking.

There were no plans existed before!

So It’s present continuous for a future arrangement.

It’s be going to for a future plan.

And it’s will for an instant decision made at that moment.

Get it?