Level 8 Unit 5 - A
future form for necessity, obligation or duty
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Yet another Future Form
To be + future
Used to talk about events in the future when it is about something arranged, an obligation or a duty of some kind. It's quite formal and is often used by journalists.
The prime minister is to open a new factory tomorrow.
The service is to shut down permanently next June.
The company is to introduce a bonus for punctuality very soon.
This form is frequently used in the passive form which, curiously means you use the verb "to be" twice: (I am to be ... they are to be... etc):
The new factory is to be opened tomorrow.
The service is to be shut down permanently next June.
A bonus for punctuality is to be introduced very soon.
Both can generate a future in the past. Active:
The prime minister was to open a new factory the next day..
The service was to shut down permanently the following June.
The company was to introduce a bonus for punctuality very soon.
Passive:
The new factory was to be opened the next day.
The service was to be shut down permanently the following June.
A bonus for punctuality was to be introduced very shortly.
In this activity look at the time clauses. They will indicate, where necessary, whether the sentence is a future or a future in the past.