Choice for the future

[JerrySmile]

Hello,

1. My car radio is old, so my uncle is going to buy me a new one next week.

2. My car radio is old, so my uncle will buy me a new one next week.

Your choice?

Thanks.

[Erik_Kowal]

My choice? A Sirius satellite radio.

Seriously, there's extremely little to choose between them. The 'going to buy' variant possibly suggests more strongly than the 'will buy' wording that the uncle has specifically offered to buy a new radio, but the context that frames the sentence may significantly influence how the wording should be interpreted.

[JerrySmile]

Thank you very much.

Other views/votes?

[Wizard of Oz]

.. Jerry it is funny that I see the emphasis the opposite way to Erik .. if someone says that it will happen then I have no doubt in my mind .. the is going to happen leaves the time frame more open and the option for extension to a longer period ..

WoZ who is going to lose weight

[Phil White]

Hi Jerry,

The usual answer is that "going to" is often used to express an intention (this gels with what both WoZ and Erik said) or a prediction "I'm going to vote for the Monster Raving Loony Party", "it's going to rain".

The "will" future is generally seen as more neutral.

Others suggest that the "going to" future often suggests a more imminent event. "He's going to fall off that bike." "He's going to die."

These explanations are often true, but they are not really hard and fast. It is also true that there is very little to choose between them.