futures
[fjˈutʃɚz] /ˈfyü-chər How to pronounce future (audio)/ (ame, mw)
futures — noun
1. the lives, conditions, or events that may come later for particular people, plac
the lives, conditions, or events that may come later for particular people, places, or things.
Teachers worried about the futures of students after the factory closed.
the futures of + group of people
The storm changed the futures of several fishing towns along the coast.
Museum planners debated two futures for the old railway station.
New water rules could create safer futures for farms in the valley.
用法筆記
Often used about the later lives or possible situations of people, places, or projects. Distinguish from sense 2, which focuses specifically on chances of success.
2. the chances that a person, group, or plan has to do well or keep developing.
the chances that a person, group, or plan has to do well or keep developing.
Strong exam results opened better futures for the whole class.
better futures = improved chances of success
Without new orders, the small studio saw few futures for growth.
Scholarships gave rural athletes brighter futures beyond their hometowns.
The adviser said both interns had strong futures in engineering.
用法筆記
Usually appears when talking about whether someone or something is likely to do well. Distinguish from sense 1, which is broader and can describe any later outcome.
3. contracts that fix today's price for goods or investments that will be delivered
contracts that fix today's price for goods or investments that will be delivered or settled later.
Beatriz bought wheat futures after reading the dry weather report.
collocation: wheat futures
The bank reduced its risk by selling oil futures in June.
Morning news said copper futures rose before trading opened in London.
Our class learned how coffee futures help farmers plan income.
- futures contracts
more explicit and slightly more formal
- commodity contracts
narrower because it focuses on goods rather than all futures products
用法筆記
Usually used in finance and most often names the product being traded, such as oil futures or wheat futures. The word is normally plural in this sense.
常見錯誤
4. verb forms used to talk about actions or states that will happen later.
verb forms used to talk about actions or states that will happen later.
In Arabic, different futures can express promise, plan, or prediction.
grammar: different future forms
The worksheet compares English futures with Spanish future forms.
Jin mixed the two futures when translating the dialogue.
The grammar book explains which futures sound formal in news reports.
- future forms
the clearest classroom term
- future tenses
works when the language treats these patterns as tense categories
- past forms
verb forms used for earlier time
用法筆記
Mostly used in grammar discussions when a language has more than one way to talk about later time. It often appears in comparisons between languages or between different verb patterns.