One of the quiz questions asks us to translate "On fera un gâteau tout à l'heure".

Question

Why is the answer "We will make a cake in a bit" and not "We are going to make a cake in a bit"? I can't see a meaningful difference between the 2 options in English.Thanks in advance!

Accepted Answer

Hi Sara,
There is little difference between -
On fera un gâteau = We will make a cake
and
On va faire un gâteau = We are going to make a cake
except that the second example has more immediacy built-in.
As this is attached to 'faire in the future' lesson I am just assuming that they wanted you to use -
On fera ...

Answer

You are right, Sara, it is a bit like splitting hairs. The literal translation of the future simple would be future tense in English, hence on fera un gâteau, unless context dictates something different, is “we will make a cake...”

Answer

(In 60 years) I haven’t noticed any difference in usuage between ‘will …’ and ‘are going to …’ in English. I will just add that according to my grammar book, and current practice, the first person (I, We) should use shall not will: We shall make a cake; you will make one too.