Going to for Plans & Intentions Exercises

Going to is used for two main purposes in English: expressing plans and intentions you have already decided, and making predictions based on present evidence. For plans, the decision was made before the moment of speaking: "I'm going to visit my grandmother this weekend" (I decided this earlier). For evidence-based predictions, you can see something happening now that tells you about the future: "Look at those dark clouds — it's going to rain" (the clouds are the evidence). The structure is: subject + am/is/are going to + base verb.

The negative form is am not / isn't / aren't going to: "She isn't going to come to the party" (she already decided). For questions, change the word order: "Are you going to study tonight?" Compare going to with will: if you decided before speaking, use "going to"; if you decide at the moment of speaking, use "will." Many learners find "going to" easier because it clearly shows that the action was already planned. This difference between pre-planned decisions ("going to") and quick decisions ("will") is often tested in Cambridge A2 Key and B1 Preliminary exams.