Il futuro immediato

Come si forma

Per parlare del futuro immediato, si utilizza una struttura composta da tre elementi:
il verbo to be al presente + about + l'infinito del verbo principale

Testa la tua consocenza
Soggetto + to be + about (oppure just about) + infinito
I am about to be sick
They are about to arrive.
It is just about to explode.
Il verbo "to leave" espresso nell'immediato futuro
Affermativa Negativa Interrogativa Negativa interrogativa
I am about to leave. I am not about to leave. Am I about to leave? Am I not about to leave?
You are about to leave. You are not about to leave. Are you about to leave? Aren't you about to leave?
He is about to leave. He is not about to leave. Is he about to leave? Isn't he about to leave?
We are about to leave. We aren't about to leave. Are we about to leave? Aren't we about to leave?
They are about to leave. They aren't about to leave. Are they about to leave? Aren't they about to leave?

Funzione

Questa struttura viene utilizzata per riferirsi a un futuro immediato ed enfatizza l'evento o l'azione che sta per compiersi entro qualche istante. Spesso si aggiunge il termine just prima di about, per enfatizzare ulteriormente l'immediatezza di quanto sta per avvenire.

Esempi
  • She is about to cry.
  • You are about to see something very unusual.
  • I am about to go to a meeting.
  • We are just about to go inside.
  • Sally is just about to jump off that diving board.

Questa struttura viene anche usata con il simple past del verbo to be al posto del presente, per riferirsi a un'azione che era imminente ma che è stata interrotta. Tale struttura è spesso seguita da una proposizione introdotta da when.

Esempi
  • She was about to leave when Jim arrived.
  • When it started to rain, I was about to go out for a walk.
  • I was just about to call her when she walked in.
  • The car was just about to flip over when he regained control.
Testa la tua consocenza