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§ 8. Apart from shall/will + Infinitive construction, there is another 
construction in English which has a potent appeal for being ana-
lysed within the framework of the general problem of the future 
tense. This is the combination of the predicator be going with the 
infinitive. Indeed, the high frequency occurrence of this construc-
tion in contexts conveying the idea of an immediate future action 
can't but draw a very close attention on the part of a linguistic ob-
server. 
The combination may denote a sheer intention (either the speaker's 
or some other person's) to perform the action expressed by the in-
finitive, thus entering into the vast set of "classical" modal con-
structions. E.g.: 
I am going to ask you a few more questions about the mysterious 
disappearance of the document, Mr. Gregg. He looked across at my 
desk and I thought for a moment he was going to give me the 
treatment, too.
* Fowler H. W. Л Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Ldn., 
1941, p. 729, 

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But these simple modal uses of be going are countered by cases 
where the direct meaning of intention rendered by the predicator 
stands in contradiction with its environmental implications and is 
subdued by them. Cf.: 
You are trying to frighten me. But you are not going to frighten me 
any more (L. Hellman). I did not know how I was going to get out 
of the room (D. du Maurier). 
Moreover, the construction, despite its primary meaning of inten-
tion, presupposing a human subject, is not infrequently used with 
non-human subjects and even in impersonal sentences. Cf.: 
She knew what she was doing, and she was sure it was going to be 
worth doing (W. Saroyan). There's going to be a contest over Ezra 
Grolley's estate (E. Gardner). 
Because of these properties it would appear tempting to class the 
construction in question as a specific tense form, namely, the tense 
form of "immediate future", analogous to the French futur im-
médiat (e.g. Le spectacle va cornmencer — The show is going to 
begin). 
Still, on closer consideration, we notice that the non-intention uses 
of the predicator be going are not indifferent stylistically. Far from 
being neutral, they more often than not display emotional colouring 
mixed with semantic connotations of oblique modality. 
For instance, when the girl from the first of the above examples 
appreciates something as "going to be worth doing", she is express-
ing her assurance of its being so. When one labels the rain as 
"never going to stop", one clearly expresses one's annoyance at the 
bad state of the weather. When a future event is introduced by the 
formula "there to be going to be", as is the case in the second of the 
cited examples, the speaker clearly implies his foresight of it, or his 
anticipation of it, or, possibly, a warning to beware of it, or else 
some other modal connotation of a like nature. Thus, on the whole, 
the non-intention uses of the construction be going + Infinitive 
cannot be rationally divided into modal and non-modal, on the 
analogy of the construction shall/will + Infinitive. Its broader com-
binability is based on semantic transposition and can be likened to 
broader uses of the modal collocation be about, also of basically