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A friend of mine used the following phrase to tell me about Obama's visit to Malaysia this weekend (he told me this when it was not already the weekend):

Obama is in town this weekend.

This phrase confused me, because it goes against what I was taught in school. Or at least, I think so, I am not a native speaker.

At least in my mind, the following is correct:

Obama will be in town this weekend.

My friend, a native British English speaker, says that both are fine, but in his country people are more likely to use the first.

How is the first acceptable? Doesn't "is" mean that it is happening in the present?

Thank you.

tchrist
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Zhao Xi
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  • I don't 100% understand the answer to the other question. Does this mean that what my friend claimed to be the most common usage in British English is incorrect? I find this usage very far from what I was taught, so I really want to understand it. – Zhao Xi Apr 25 '14 at 06:58
  • The most frequent way to indicate a future event is to use a modal auxiliary, usually will albeit occasionally shall, or else with a circumlocution involving to be going to. However, when a future point time is specified, it is not always necessary to use one of those verbal markers, as there is no ambiguity. Consider: *“Christmas falls on Thursday next year, doesn’t it?”* It has not happened yet, and both falls and doesn’t are 3s present inflections, yet the supporting words Christmas and next year suffice to cue the reader that we’re talking about a future event. – tchrist Apr 25 '14 at 12:58

1 Answers1

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The present tense is often used for future events that are scheduled:

Did you know that Obama is town this weekend?

Really, when does he arrive?

Aarts in Oxford Modern English Grammar (p248) calls this the present futurate, and lists I start my degree course next week as one of his examples. He goes on to explain:

It would have been possible to use other means of referring to the future in these examples, but with the present futurate the future situation is anchored in the present, and in some way scheduled to take place as a 'diaired occurrence' or as a natural occurrence. The use of the present futurate makes the conversation more lively by bringing the anticipated situation to the fore. Notice that for these examples to be interpreted as futurate uses, a time specification is normally required.

As an aside, it is worth noting the inherent ambiguity of the statement Obama is in town this weekend if said on a Saturday. It could mean that Obama is here now, or it could mean that he is arriving later today or on Sunday. Obviously, if the statement is made on a non-weekend day, then it can only be referring to the future.

Shoe
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