A New Year, new opportunities to improve your English! It’s time to start thinking about New Year resolutions.

A resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something in the future. In English there are different ways to talk about our resolutions depending on how determined we are to accomplish them.

There are different websites with useful information about how to make and keep New Year’s resolutions. However, here I’m going to talk about the grammar behind talking about our resolutions in English.

In the table below you can find some useful sentence starters that you can use to talk about your New Year’s resolutions.

Sentence starter	Meaning	Example
(+) I’m going to + base form (-) I’m not going to + base form	It’s a plan or intention for the future	I’m going to practice English every day. I’m not going to eat junk food.
(+) I‘m planning to + base form	Things that you are almost definitely going to do. Things that you have already scheduled or made some preparations for.	I’m planning to take English classes during the summer.
I hope to + base form I‘d like to + base form	Things you want to do but you it’s not a definite plan	I hope to travel more. I’d like to lose weight.
I might + base form I may + base form I‘m thinking about + gerund	Things you are considering, but you’re not sure if you will do it or not.	I might travel to Brazil. I may apply to grad school. I’m thinking about changing careers.

Practice time

1. Choose 1 item per column.
2. Write the names of each item in order. For example: hamburger, wine, mountain, Whatsapp.
3. Repeat step 2 two more times.
4. Swipe left to find out your resolution.
5. Use the sentence starters in the chart below and the words in the New Year’s resolution generator to make your sentences.

Examples:

I’m going to stop taking selfies after zumba.

I’m not going to stop taking selfies after zumba.

I hope to stop taking selfies after zumba.

I‘m thinking about stopping taking selfies after zumba.

Share your resolutions with us.