Of course you always speak the truth and keep your promises.

Or do you?

In some professions, giving false promises seems to be the norm. Plumbers and airconditioning technicians always say they’ll come back tomorrow. But they never do. They’ll want you to call them back. Maybe three times.

Let’s look at some promises which are made with simple future, or “will.”

Will is always followed by the infinitive, or the basic form of the verb. Don’t know what that is? Have a look at this article: https://englishwithasmile.org/2013/06/04/how-to-recognize-the-basic-form-of-a-verb/

Promises, Promises

Love & Friendship

I will always love you.

I will never leave you.

I will always help you if you have some problem.

I’ll always be there for you.

All you need is call and I’ll come running to you.

I will email you.

Plumbers, Painters, Programmers & Piano Tuners

I will call you first thing in the morning.

I will do it tomorrow.

I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

I’ll give you a special price.

You won’t have a leak in those pipes again. (won’t = will not)

I will finish this in one week.

This will take me 20 hours of work, no more.

This will only be a small repair.

Never Tell a Secret

I won’t tell anyone.

I won’t ever betray you.

At the Doctor’s

This won’t hurt.

This will only take a minute.

The doctor will be here any minute.

You won’t need to stay in the hospital for this.

Exercise:

Fill in the missing words in the following conversation. Use “will” or “won’t,” plus one of the following verbs:

be send find give check have book call

You can use the same verbs more than once.

At the Travel Agent

–          Good afternoon, my wife and I are on our second honeymoon and we’d like to book a flight to some sunny beach, but not too hot please.

–          Oh, hello. I’m busy now, but I ___________ back in a few minutes.

…

–          Hello, this is Pascal again. I phoned you this afternoon. About the beach holiday.

–          Sure. How are you, Mr Pascal. I have just the thing for you. How about Turkey?

–          Hm, isn’t it terribly hot there?

–          If you book for this month, it ____________.

–          But won’t there be any more violent demonstrations like the ones I saw on the news last week?

–          I ____________ the news for you, but don’t worry, on the beach there probably ___________ any demonstrations.

–          Good. Will we be able to rent a car from the airport?

–          Sure. I ___________ one for you with your reservation.

–          Another question. We don’t eat pork and …

–          That ___________ a problem at all. Turks don’t eat a lot of pork themselves and you ___________ lots of other delicious foods.

–          In case we get bored on the beach, are there any fun things we can do?

–          There are many. I __________ you an email with a brochure. There are canoeing trips, archaeology, jeep rides, hiking and sailing.

–          I don’t think we __________ time and money for all those.

–          If you book three day trips, I ___________ you a discount!

Check the answers at the bottom of the page. 

 

Answers:

–          Good afternoon, my wife and I are on our second honeymoon and we’d like to book a flight to some sunny beach, but not too hot please.

–          Oh, hello. I’m busy now, but I __will call_________ back in a few minutes.

…

–          Hello, this is Pascal again. I phoned you this afternoon. About the beach holiday.

–          Sure. How are you, Mr Pascal. I have just the thing for you. How about Turkey?

–          Hm, isn’t it terribly hot there?

–          If you book for this month, it __won’t be_______.

–          But won’t there be any more violent demonstrations like the ones I saw on the news last week?

–          I __will check________ the news for you, but don’t worry, on the beach there probably __won’t be_________ any demonstrations.

–          Good. Will we be able to rent a car from the airport?

–          Sure. I __will book_________ one for you with your reservation.

–          Another question. We don’t eat pork and …

–          That __won’t be_________ a problem at all. Turks don’t eat a lot of pork themselves and you __will find_________ lots of other delicious foods.

–          In case we get bored on the beach, are there any fun things we can do?

–          There are many. I _will send_________ you an email with a brochure. There are canoeing trips, archaeology, jeep rides, hiking and sailing.

–          I don’t think we __will have________ time and money for all those.

–          If you book three day trips, I ____will give_______ you a discount!