English has several ways to talk about the future, and 'will' and 'going to' are the most important. Use 'going to' when you have already made a decision: 'I am going to apply for the new role — I decided last week.' Use 'going to' for predictions based on what you can see now: 'Look at the queue — this is going to take forever.' Use 'will' for predictions based on general knowledge: 'I think the economy will improve next year.' Use 'will' for decisions made at the moment of speaking: 'The printer is broken? I'll call IT support.' In practice, native speakers often use both — the difference is one of precision, not correctness.

💡 Did you know? The simple future tense with 'will' is used differently in British and American English. Americans are more likely to use 'going to' in informal contexts. British speakers more often use 'will' even for concrete plans in everyday speech.