Why only 1 correct and not 3?

Question

Hi. For Le Père Noël viendra..you accept only Santa will come..as the correct answer. Why not also Santa is coming and Santa is going to come as they all express future happenings in English ?

Cheers,

Pekka J

Helsinki

Accepted Answer

Hi Pekka, 
Le Père Noël viendra = Santa will come
Le Père Noël va venir = Santa is going to come 
The first one is in the future and the second in the near future, two distinct competencies.
Take a lot at the following Kwiziq lesson which explains the difference but there are many other lessons.
https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/glossary/temporality/le-futur-future

Answer

I’m also not satisfied with this situation either. The translations aren’t accurate.

In English we use the present continuous for future plans which involve other people (Santa is coming, I am coming to your house on August 2nd).

We use the future with will for future predictions and for spontaneous decisions (We’ve ran out of milk, so I’ll go to the shop).

We use “going to” for future plans (and predictions made by professionals.) it’s interchangeable with the present continuous (as mentioned above).

The future with will is very different.

What do you think?

Answer