Content tagged with "modals"

Be about + to-infinitive refers to arranged actions that happen in the immediate future. It is often used with just:

Hurry up! The ceremony is about to begin!
"Do you have a minute?" "I'm sorry, I'm just about to leave."

Be due + to-infinitive is used to refer to fixed events happening at or within a specific time:

The film is due to start at 8 pm.
Half of our employees are due to retire in five years.
Negotiations were due to take place later that week.

Be going to is used to predict future events that are very near (and can be seen) or seem sure to happen. Such predictions are based on present evidence:

I'm going to faint.
Look at the clouds; it's going to rain.
My sister is going to have a baby.

The expressions be on the edge / point / verge of (doing) something refer to actions that happen in the near future and have a meaning similar to be about to:

She is on the point of bursting into tears.
Researchers are on the verge of a breakthrough.