no one is going solo on this

Question

I'm watching Good Luck Charlie. Charlie is a newborn baby; she has three siblings.

Mom said to dad, "With both of us working, poor little Charlie doesn't stand a chance."

Her oldest kid comforted her. He said:

Come on, no one's going solo on this. All us kids are gonna help. If Charlie gets a little messed up along the way, we can all share the blame.

"No one is going solo on this." What does it mean? Does it mean no one can go solo on this? Can the simple future tense indicate ability?

Thank you. I know what go solo means. But I'd like to know if the sentence indicate the ability. No one is going to accept this theory. This doesn't mean ability, but rather their willingness. No one is going solo on this = no one will go solo on this or no one can go solo on this? — Stephen, Feb 01 '22 at 15:14
It indicates a future plan. It doesn't say anything about ability. — stangdon, Feb 01 '22 at 21:24
Dad said to his daughter, "No, no, you're not going to marry him. " Here it sounds like dad gave a disapproval, instead of stating his daughter's future plan. — Stephen, Feb 02 '22 at 00:23

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 03 '22 at 21:09

Present continuous ("is going", in your example) has two functions, and both are possible in this context, so the meaning is ambiguous.

The two functions are: a present, ongoing action, and a future planned action.

In this context, it could mean:

No one is currently going solo on this (present ongoing action)

OR

No one is going to go solo on this (future planned action)

The next line of dialogue, "All us kids are gonna help", suggests it has a future meaning because he could have said, "All of us kids are helping", but he didn't. It's not certain though.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 02 '22 at 09:24

Come on, no one's going solo on this. All us kids are gonna help.

No, "no one's going solo on this" is not an indication of ability.

It is also not a statement of disapproval. In fact, the clause after that shows that all the kids are supportive of this future plan and are going to help.

This clause indicates a future plan, as @stangdon said.

no one is going solo on this

2 Answers2