The summer holidays <start> <are starting> next week (2025)

"The summer holidays start / are starting next week so im going to Scotland "

Which option is correct ?

Keith Bradford said:

Both. No difference that is worth trying to analyse.

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Is one of them more formal than the other ? In the workbook's answerkey only the present continuous version is correct

lingobingo said:

The present tense – in either the simple or the continuous aspect – can be used to to denote the future, as can will and be going to. So you can say it in any of these ways:

the holidays start soon
the holidays are starting soon
the holidays will start soon
the holidays will be starting soon
the holidays are going to start soon
the holidays are going to be starting soon

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So why is it that grammar books by Cambridge and Oxford and many many others only mention the future simple, be going to future continuous, future perfect and also the present continuous if something is going to happen in the near future and it is certain . Once again is it that the present continuous is more formal than the present simple when it comes to future ?

Perhaps grammar books like that are written in a simplified way, to help foreign learners?

The formally recommended form of the future is the one that uses "will". But all the others are subtle variations in common educated usage, and perfectly correct grammatically.

Having said that, the simple present is more common than all the rest, but that's in part because it's the only one available in "if" clauses and other similar variants, and of course it

"will start soon". See Google Books Ngram Viewer, bearing in mind that it's incomplete.

Can we also say "there are holidays next week"?

It sounds a bit awkward for me, but I'm not a native speaker.

lingobingo said:

Yes. You can certainly use the simple present when describing something that has not yet happened, but of course you need to add a time marker that explains that. In other words, “there are holidays” on its own contains no reference to the future, whereas “there will be holidays” does.

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Thanks! But I mean is the whole construction (there are/there will be + holidays) all ok? Because I have never heard such a sentence in dialogues. People always say: 'We go on holiday next week', 'our summer holidays start next week', but I have come across "there are holidays next week" for the first time. And it was written by non native speaker, so I decided to ask here.

I don't think I would say simply "There are holidays next week" because I can't think of a situation when that would apply. However, on December 20th I might say "There are

holidays next week, Christmas Day and Boxing Day" (Dec 25 and 26). Or today I might say "There are

holidays next month", thinking of Nirvana Day, Chinese New Year and Ash Wednesday.

Note, these are holidays in the sense of festivals, not vacation.

Keith Bradford said:

I don't think I would say simply "There are holidays next week" because I can't think of a situation when that would apply. However, on December 20th I might say "There are

two

holidays next week, Christmas Day and Boxing Day" (Dec 25 and 26). Or today I might say "There are

several

holidays next month", thinking of Nirvana Day, Chinese New Year and Ash Wednesday.

Note, these are holidays in the sense of festivals, not vacation.

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That's why I didn't like this sentence, too. It was a conversation between two students and they talked about half-term holidays:
"There are holidays next week. Can we go somewhere?"

I'd prefer something like: "our half-term holidays start/we go on holiday next week". But, as I have already said, I'm not a native speaker.

lingobingo said:

There are lots of different ways of saying most things.

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This seems to be a concept that some learners find unusual/confusing about English (is it not true for toher languages?) . This is because

Keith Bradford said:

Perhaps grammar books like that are written in a simplified way, to help foreign learners?

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lingobingo said:

There are lots of different ways of saying most things. There’s nothing wrong with saying “There are holidays next week”, even if most people might say it differently, e.g. (in the UK anyway) as “We’re on holiday next week” or “It’s the holidays next week”.

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Ok, thanks.

Keith Bradford said:

"It's half-term next week."

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And what about summer holidays? Can I say "It's the summer holidays next week"?

Well, you

say it but why choose a vague phrase when you've already told us the answer in the first words of your #1?

rotan said:

... I guess you can't use the continuous form when the event you're talking about is fixed ...

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Who says you can't?

There is a theory that the present tense has a hidden meaning ("this has been fixed") and the present continuous doesn't have that meaning. That is an invention by foreign teachers of English who are trying to cope with the vagueness and subtlety of English by stating a "rule". There is no such rule, though there is possibly a statistical trend in the writings of native speakers.

(I am reminded of the story of the farmer who is told that the Polish-Russian border has been re-drawn, and his farm is now inside Poland. He replies: "Thank goodness! I couldn't stand another of those Russian winters!")

Keith Bradford said:

Well, you

can

say it but why choose a vague phrase when you've already told us the answer in the first words of your #1?

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I ask because it says in Murphy grammar book that we can't use "it's" and "there's" at the same time:

'It's Sunday' but we can't say 'There's Sunday'.
'It's break time' but we can't say 'There's break time'.

But it seems to work with holidays? 'It's the holidays next week' = 'There are holidays next week'?

Keith Bradford said:

There is a theory that the present tense has a hidden meaning ("this has been fixed") and the present continuous doesn't have that meaning. That is an invention by foreign teachers of English who are trying to cope with the vagueness and subtlety of English by stating a "rule". There is no such rule, though there is possibly a statistical trend in the writings of native speakers.

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...but even English student books (written by Englishmen/women) and many forums tell us to use the Present Simple for fixed events with words such as start, end, close, arrive, leave, etc... so how is that a foreign thing?

Either the books are wrong or you've misunderstood them. I think you'll probably find that the books say something like: "Sometimes the present tense can be used to express the future, particularly if it refers to a predetermined plan: We leave for Paris tomorrow".

This doesn't mean that the present continuous can't also be used for the same purpose (We're leaving for Paris tomorrow ), or that the present tense always has that meaning. You're turning an observation about what is often said into a rule about what must be said, and then concluding that something else can't be said.

I mean fixed events (like schedules, timetables, etc.)

Yes, I've seen "I'm flying to Berlin on October 13th", but my plane to Berlin "leaves at 6.00" - I have never seen "is leaving at 6.00"
Choosing the day of the travel is on me (but could not be as well)
But what time does the plane leave is not on me, I have to adjust

I'm not trying to deflate a native speaker's statement, don't get me wrong... it's just that I have never seen using the continuous form for fixed events which I have to adjust to... but if it's correct - well, good to know, and thank you

Yes, I've been thinking this over since yesterday, and discussing it with my wife. Our conclusions are:

• Both of the present tenses are perfectly appropriate to describe a future event which has been planned. "Mr Jones goes/is going to Paris tomorrow... His plane leaves/is leaving at 10:15..."
• If there is a distinction, it's that the simple present, being shorter, is more peremptory. "Queen Elizabeth cried: The Earl of Essex dies tomorrow! So it is decided, he is being executed at dawn."
• Events that are not premeditated or planned can never be expressed in the present: "It rains on Friday... ".
• The future tense is appropriate in all these cases: "Mr Jones will go/be going to Paris tomorrow... His plane will leave/be leaving at 10:15... The Earl of Essex will die tomorrow! ... he will be executed at dawn... It will rain on Friday."

(Mind you, Queen Elizabeth would quite probably have said: The Earl of Essex shall die tomorrow! but that's another story.)