Editing Going-to future (section)

===The ''be + to'' construction===
English has a construction formed by a form of the [[copula (linguistics)|copula]] ''be'' followed by ''to'' and the bare [[infinitive]] of the main verb (i.e. the copula followed by the ''to''-infinitive). This is similar in form to the ''going-to'' future, with the omission of the word ''going''.  In the ''be + to'' construction only [[finite verb|finite]], [[indicative mood|indicative]] (or [[English subjunctive|past subjunctive]]) forms of the copula can appear – that is, the copula used cannot be "be" itself, but one of the forms ''am'', ''is'', ''are'', ''was'', ''were'' (possibly [[English contractions|contracted]] in some cases).

The meaning of this construction is to indicate that something is expected to happen at a future time (usually in the near future), as a result of either some duty ([[deontic modality]]) or some set plan. For example:
* I'''{{'}}m to report''' to the principal this afternoon. (duty)
* The Prime Minister '''is to visit''' the West Bank. (plan)
* Troops '''are to be sent''' to war-torn Darfur. (plan; note [[English passive voice|passive voice]])

In [[headline language]] the copula may be omitted, e.g. "Prime Minister to visit West Bank".

Compared with the ''will'' future, the ''be + to'' construction may be less expressive of a prediction, and more of the existence of a plan or duty. Thus "John will go ..." implies a belief on the speaker's part that this will occur, while "John is to go ..." implies knowledge on the speaker's part that there exists a plan or obligation entailing such an occurrence (the latter statement will not be falsified if John ends up not going). The ''be + to'' construction may therefore resemble a [[renarrative mood]] in some ways.

When ''was'' or ''were'' is used as the copula, the plan or duty is placed in past time (and quite often implies that it was not carried out). It may also be used simply as a way of expressing "future in the past" (see the following section). For example:
::I '''was to visit''' my aunt, but I missed the train. (past plan, not in fact fulfilled)
::This was the battle at which they '''were''' finally '''to triumph'''. (future in the past, also: ''they would finally triumph'')

The construction also appears in [[condition clause]]s:
::If you '''are to go''' on holiday, you need to work hard. (i.e. working hard is necessary for going on holiday)
::If he '''was/were to speak''', it would change things significantly. (also ''if he spoke'')
When the verb in such a clause is ''were'', it can be inverted and the conjunction ''if'' dropped: "Were he to speak, ..." For details of these constructions, see [[English conditional sentences]].