Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

be going to en · X

Pronunciation

  • /ɡənə/ (unstressed)
  • /ɡoʊɪnə/ (unstressed)
  • /ˈɡoʊɪŋ tu/ (stressed)
  • /ɡoʊɪn tə/ (unstressed)
  • /ˈɡənə/ (stressed)
  • /ɡoʊɪŋ tə/ (unstressed)
  • (US) audio
  • /ɡoʊnə/ (unstressed)
  • [ˈɡʊwɪn tə] (West-Midlands)

Etymology

From Middle English goyng to, first attested in 1483—some earlier attestations have been claimed, though these are disputed—and grammaticalized over the course of the Early Modern period. Possibly influenced by the comparable use of Middle French aller (“go”), which arose somewhat earlier and is preserved in modern French.

Meanings

  1. Expresses the prospective aspect relative to a given time frame: something that will happen, or is intended, at the time, to happen.
    • I sav’d my Son Æneas from his hand, / My dearest Son, whom he was going to slay. 1676, Thomas Hobbes, transl., Homer’s Iliads in English […], book 5, page 69:
    • “Sh—! Don’t speak—he’s going to commence.” 1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “”, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 383:
    • I’ve been going to stop by for ages, but I’ve only just found time.
    • I’ve already agreed on a price, so I’m going to buy it regardless.
    • I'm going to throw out the milk if nobody’s going to drink it.
    • Mary is going to have another baby. I'll most probably have blue eyes, because both parents do.
    • I was going to cut the grass, but it started raining.
    • I have been told about a row house going to be available soon.
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see be, going, to.
    • It's getting late; I must be going to my grandma's.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
gunna alternative, pronunciation-spelling lexicographic
gonno alternative, pronunciation-spelling lexicographic
gonna Polite=Infm alternative lexicographic

Relateds

to

Translations (29)

sv past tense of ska (past progressive) · es ir (will (future tense)) · nl past tense of gaan (past progressive) · hu fog (will (future tense)) · fi present tense of the main verb (will (future tense)) · nds-de gahn (will (future tense)) · ta போ preceded by infinitive (will (future tense)) · cmn 會 /会 (will (future tense)) · de werden (will (future tense)) · fr aller (will (future tense)) · cmn 將會 /将会 (will (future tense)) · cmn 將要 /将要 (will (future tense)) · cmn 本來想 /本来想 (past progressive) · bn যাওয়া (will (future tense)) · ca anar a (will (future tense)) · el πάω (will (future tense)) · ko ㄹ 것이다 (will (future tense)) · ru намерева́ться (will (future tense)) · fi past tense of aikoa (past progressive) · pt ir (will (future tense)) · hu úgy volt, hogy (past progressive) · ga chun (will (future tense)) · sv ska (will (future tense)) · sh ići (will (future tense)) · sv komma att (will (future tense)) · nl gaan (will (future tense)) · pl typically formed using the past tense of chcieć (past progressive) · ru собира́ться (will (future tense)) · grc μέλλω (will (future tense))