Den umiddelbare framtiden

Form

Når vi snakker om den umiddelbare framtiden, kan vi bruke et mønster som består av tre deler:
presens formen av verbet "to be" + about + hovedverbets infinitiv

Test kunnskapen din

Subjekt	+ to be	+ about (eller just about)	+ infinitiv
I	am	about	to be sick
They	are	about	to arrive.
It	is	just about	to explode.

To leave, i den umiddelbare framtiden

Bekreftende	Nektende	Spørrende	Nektende spørrende
I am about to leave.	I am not about to leave.	Am I about to leave?	Am I not about to leave?
You are about to leave.	You are not about to leave.	Are you about to leave?	Aren't you about to leave?
He is about to leave.	He is not about to leave.	Is he about to leave?	Isn't he about to leave?
We are about to leave.	We aren't about to leave.	Are we about to leave?	Aren't we about to leave?
They are about to leave.	They aren't about to leave.	Are they about to leave?	Aren't they about to leave?

Funksjon

Dette mønsteret brukes når man henviser til et tidspunkt i den umiddelbare framtiden, og det framhever at hendelsen eller handlingen kommer til å skje veldig snart. Vi ofte plasserer ordet just foran ordet about, som framhever handlingens umiddelbarhet.

Eksempler

She is about to cry.
You are about to see something very unusual.
I am about to go to a meeting.
We are just about to go inside.
Sally is just about to jump off that diving board.

Dette mønsteret kan også brukes med preteritum (simple past) formen av verbet to be i stedet for presens formen, til å henvise til en handling som var nært forestående, men ble avbrutt. Det mønsteret er ofte etterfulgt av en bisetning innført av when.