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Your 9 a.m. is my noon: future forms for meetings across time zones

Future forms for meetings across time zones are the focus of this B1 English for IT lesson plan.

Grammar
The present continuous for arrangements (We're meeting at 5 p.m. UTC.), going to for plans, will for decisions and offers (I'll send you the notes.), and the present simple for timetables and after when.
Topic
Finding a time for a call between San Francisco, Chicago and New York, with words such as UTC, offset, overlap and be double-booked.
Activities
An article on UTC, a meeting invite, a planning call, self-checking drills, a scheduling chat and open boxes, then a message proposing a time to write and next week's plans to record.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: What Time Is It There?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answer the questionSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words for meetings across time zonesVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2The Story: Not CUT, Not TUC

    • Read the story: why it's UTC, not CUTArticleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the storyQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3At Work: The Beta Review Invite

    • Read the invite to the beta reviewReal-life documentTry it
    • True or false? Check the inviteTrue or falseUnlock
    • Choose the correct local timeChoose the optionUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Listen: My Noon, Your Eleven

    • Listen to Beatriz and Tom plan the beta reviewListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the callQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Grammar: We're Meeting, I'll Send It

    • Study the scheme: future forms for plansGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct future form in each sentenceChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: turn the notes into sentencesFill in the gapsTry it
    • Drag the words into Kenji and Iryna's chatDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: time-zone sentencesChoose the optionUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Speak Up: Find a Time That Works

    • Choose the best reply to KenjiChatTry it
    • Open a box: plans, offers and time zonesOpen the boxUnlock

  7. Chapter 7Homework: Propose a Time

    • Read your phrase bankReal-life documentUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: offers and promises with willFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Match the sentence halvesMatchUnlock
    • Write a message that proposes a meeting timeWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record your plans for next weekSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

24 exercises in 7 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Time zone and scheduling vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • overlap
  • a calendar invite
  • an agenda
  • a time slot
  • daylight saving time
  • reschedule
  • book a room
  • confirm
  • be double-booked

Grammar: future forms for plans across time zones

Of the future tenses in English, four forms do most of the work in a team calendar. Setting up a review call for three offices, learners let the situation choose the form: an arrangement, a plan, a decision made while speaking or a timetable. Then they give the time in each city with It'll be… when…

Future forms for plans across time zones

An arrangement, a plan, a decision now or a timetable? The situation chooses the form.

Arrangement, plan or timetable?

An arrangement in the calendar takes the present continuous: We're meeting Kenji at 9 a.m. his time. A plan you made before speaking takes going to: I'm going to move the demo to Thursday. A fixed schedule takes the present simple: The call ends at 5:45 UTC.

Four ways to talk about the future

FormUse it forExample
am / is / are + verb-ingan arrangement: it's in the calendar, with a time and other peopleWe're meeting Kenji at 9 a.m. his time.
am / is / are going to + verba plan or intention: you decided before you speakI'm going to move the demo to Thursday.
will ('ll) + verba decision now, an offer or a promiseOK, I'll send you the link.
will ('ll) + verba future factIt'll be late in New York.
present simplea timetable or a fixed scheduleThe call starts at 4 p.m. UTC.

From Beatriz and Tom

  • We're meeting on Thursday at 5 p.m. UTC.Beatriz, in the invite: an arrangement
  • I'm meeting the payments team at 12:30.Tom: an arrangement
  • I'm going to keep it short.Tom: a plan
  • OK, I'll move you to the start.Beatriz: a decision now
  • I'll send you the notes when we finish.Beatriz: a promise
  • The call ends at 5:45 UTC.the invite: a timetable

Will for decisions, offers and promises

A decision made while you speak takes will: Sorry, I'll send a new link. So do offers, promises and future facts: I'll send you the notes. It'll be late in New York. Offers use I'll… or Do you want me to…?, and Americans rarely say Shall I…?

Arrangement, plan or decision now?

An arrangement is in the calendar: a time and other people (We're meeting at 9). A plan is in your head (I'm going to move the demo). Going to is also correct for arrangements. A decision you make while you speak takes will: "The link doesn't work." – "Sorry, I'll send a new one." Offers: I'll… or Do you want me to…? Americans rarely say Shall I…?

It'll be noon in New York when…

To give the time in another city, use It'll be + time + in + city. After when or as soon as, keep the present simple, even for the future: It'll be 9:45 a.m. in San Francisco when the call ends, not when the call will end.

It'll be + time + in + citywhen / as soon as + present simple

It'll be noon in New York when Kenji starts work.

It'll be 9:45 a.m. in San Francisco when the call ends.

Questions and negatives

Each form makes its own questions: Are you joining the call? What time does the call start? Negatives are I'm not going to work late and I won't be online at 9 p.m. Keep the to in going to: I'm going send is a typical slip.

  • Are you joining the call? – Yes, I am. / No, I'm not.
  • Is Kenji going to show the demo? – Yes, he is.
  • What time does the call start? – It starts at 5 p.m. UTC.
  • I'm not going to work late. / I won't be online at 9 p.m. (won't = will not)

Typical mistakes

  • I'm going send the invite.

    I'm going to send the invite.

    going to + base verb: keep the to

  • It'll be noon in New York when the call will start.

    It'll be noon in New York when the call starts.

    after when, if, as soon as, before: the present simple

  • The link doesn't work. – Sorry, I send a new one.

    The link doesn't work. – Sorry, I'll send a new one.

    a decision or an offer now: will

  • Are you join the call on Thursday?

    Are you joining the call on Thursday?

    present continuous: be + verb-ing

More lessons on this grammar: Future tenses lessons and exercises

Try the future forms exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 12 auto-checked exercises
  • 2 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 2 real-life documents
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 1 picture
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • talk about meetings already in the calendar with the present continuous: We're meeting on Thursday at 5 p.m. UTC.
  • use going to for a plan and will for a decision, offer or promise made now: I'm going to keep it short. OK, I'll move you to the start.
  • say what time it'll be in another city, with the present simple after when: It'll be noon in New York when Kenji starts work.
  • propose a meeting time in a team chat, with UTC and each city's local time, and offer to send the invite

Lesson 17 sits in the middle of Remote and async, unit 6 of English for IT B1 · Inside the Team, where learners plan across time zones and write clear messages. It brings back going to from lesson 5 and the present simple after when from lesson 13, and adds the present continuous and will, first met at A2. Lesson 18 closes the unit with an async update. With offices three hours apart, every plan needs a time for each city.

Students spin a wheel about their teams' hours and time zones, learn twelve words with pictures and audio, from UTC and offset to book a room, and take a picture quiz. A short article asks why the shared clock is called UTC, not CUT or TUC. Beatriz's invite to a beta review gives one time in UTC and three local times; students check it and convert times between cities. Then Beatriz and Tom plan the call in an AI-voiced dialogue.

The scheme opens the grammar chapter, and four drills that check themselves follow, among them calendar notes to turn into sentences. Students then find a time with Kenji, a tech lead in San Francisco, in a chat and open boxes for plans, offers and a role-play across time zones. Homework is a phrase bank, a gap-fill of offers with will and a matching exercise, both self-checking, then a chat message proposing a meeting time and a recording of next week's plans, which the teacher reviews.

Grammar:
future forms · present continuous for arrangements · going to vs will
Topic:
time zones · meetings · remote work

Teaching tips

  • Draw three clocks on the board for San Francisco, Chicago and New York, set a call at 5 p.m. UTC, and have learners give each local time with It'll be… in… before they open the invite.
  • Work from the group's real calendars: each learner names one meeting this week (I'm meeting…), one plan (I'm going to…) and one offer to a colleague (I'll…).
  • Play the call twice: first for the times, then for the forms. Learners note who has a plan (I'm going to keep it short) and who decides on the spot (OK, I'll move you to the start).
  • One-to-one, schedule a real call together: the learner proposes a time in UTC in your chat, gives both local times and offers to send the invite, all in writing.

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The whole course: English for IT B1 · Inside the Team

24 lessons at B1 for people who build, test or run software, in American English. Learners follow Iryna, a junior developer, through her first year at Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup: standups, tickets, code review, chats across time zones and job interviews. Each lesson is built around a true story from software history.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Hello, team

    roles, stacks and first days: the present simple, the present perfect with for and since, question forms

    1. Lesson 1How big is a two-pizza team?Present simple for jobs and responsibilities
    2. Lesson 2Your first "Hello, World"Present perfect with for and since
    3. Lesson 3Write your personal READMEQuestion forms for getting to know colleagues

  2. Unit 2 The daily standup

    updates and blockers: the present simple and continuous, just, already and yet, have to and need to

    1. Lesson 4Why is it called a scrum?Present simple vs continuous and state verbs
    2. Lesson 5Done, not done yetPast simple, present perfect and going to for updates
    3. Lesson 6Help, I'm blocked!Have to, need to, don't have to and can't

  3. Unit 3 Bugs and tickets

    clear bug reports: the past continuous, imperatives and the zero conditional, quantifiers

    1. Lesson 7The first actual bugPast simple and past continuous for bug stories
    2. Lesson 8Steps to reproduceImperatives and the zero conditional for bug reports
    3. Lesson 9The email that couldn't go 500 milesQuantifiers in bug tickets

  4. Unit 4 Code review

    kind, useful comments: -ed and -ing adjectives, modals for suggestions, the first conditional

    1. Lesson 10What's a nit?-ed and -ing adjectives in review comments
    2. Lesson 11Could we maybe…?Modals for suggestions in code review
    3. Lesson 12Your first pull requestThe first conditional and unless in code review

  5. Unit 5 How it works

    explaining systems step by step: time clauses, the passive, relative clauses

    1. Lesson 13What happens when you type a URL?Time clauses with as soon as, until and once
    2. Lesson 14How is a barcode read?The present and past simple passive
    3. Lesson 15Draw it, then say itDefining relative clauses

  6. Unit 6 Remote and async

    chat, email and time zones: polite requests, future forms, the present perfect continuous

    1. Lesson 16Just say what you needPolite requests and indirect questions
    2. Lesson 17 · you're hereYour 9 a.m. is my noonFuture forms for plans across time zones
    3. Lesson 18Write it downPresent perfect continuous for status updates

  7. Unit 7 Users and clients

    user stories and plain explanations: verb + to or -ing, reported speech, comparisons

    1. Lesson 19As a user, I want…Verb + to or verb + -ing
    2. Lesson 20"The client said it was broken"Reported speech for client calls
    3. Lesson 21Explain it in ten hundred wordsComparisons for plain explanations

  8. Unit 8 Your next job

    resumes and interviews: used to, the past perfect, the second conditional

    1. Lesson 22A resume that shows resultsUsed to for your career path
    2. Lesson 23Tell me about a time when…The past perfect for STAR stories
    3. Lesson 24What would you do if…?The second conditional for interviews

Questions about this lesson

Which future tense do you use for a scheduled meeting?
A meeting already fixed in the calendar usually takes the present continuous, be + verb-ing: We're meeting on Thursday at 5 p.m. UTC. I'm meeting the payments team at 12:30. Going to works for arrangements too (We're going to meet on Thursday). For the official start and end, the present simple fits, as in a timetable: The call starts at 5 p.m. UTC and ends at 5:45.
What are the main future forms in English?
English has four everyday future forms, and the situation chooses. The present continuous is for arrangements (We're meeting Kenji at 9.), going to for plans (I'm going to move the demo.), will for decisions, offers, promises and future facts (I'll send the link.), and the present simple for timetables (The sprint ends on Friday.). The B1 English for IT lesson Your 9 a.m. is my noon on edio.ai puts all four in one table.
Can you use the present simple for the future?
Yes, for timetables and fixed schedules: The call starts at 4 p.m. UTC. The sprint ends on Friday. The next beta version comes out on Monday. It also follows when, as soon as, before and if in sentences about the future: As soon as the call ends, I'll post the notes. For your own plans, though, use going to or the present continuous instead.
Is it "I'll send the invite" or "I'm going to send the invite"?
Both can be right: the choice depends on when you decided. For a decision or offer made as you speak, say I'll send the invite: The link doesn't work? I'll send a new one. For a plan you already have, say I'm going to send the invite in a minute. Never drop the to: a chat in Your 9 a.m. is my noon, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, has I'm going show it as a wrong reply.
Is it "when the call starts" or "when the call will start"?
It's when the call starts, in the present simple, even though the call is in the future. After when, as soon as, before, after and if, English keeps the present simple and puts will in the other half: It'll be noon in New York when the call starts. Before the New York team goes home, Kenji will check the build. When the call will start is a typical mistake.
What does UTC mean?
UTC stands for Coordinated Universal Time, the world's shared standard clock. Local times are written as offsets from it: New York in winter is UTC-5, San Francisco UTC-8. UTC doesn't change for daylight saving time, so distributed teams write meeting times in it, often with the local times underneath: Thursday, 5 p.m. UTC (9 a.m. San Francisco, noon New York). The full name is not Universal Time Coordinated, a common mistake.
How do you schedule a meeting across time zones?
Propose one time in UTC and add each local time: How about Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. UTC? That's 9:30 a.m. in San Francisco and 12:30 p.m. in New York. Check the overlap of working hours, say what's going to happen, offer to send the invite (I'll send the calendar invite today) and ask people to confirm. If the time doesn't work, someone replies Sorry, I'm double-booked. Can we move it to Thursday?
What does it mean to be double-booked?
Being double-booked means having two meetings or calls at the same time. People say it to explain a clash and ask for a change: Sorry, I'm double-booked. I'm meeting the payments team at 12:30. Good replies are No problem, I'll move you to the start or Let's reschedule. In Your 9 a.m. is my noon, a B1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, the listening turns on this very problem.
How do you offer to help in a work chat?
The usual American way to offer is I'll… or Do you want me to…?: I'll send you the link. I'll book a room in Chicago. Do you want me to record the call? Shall I…? is rare in American English. Promises take will too, and the negative is won't: Don't worry, I won't be late. To accept, say That works for me or Thanks!
How do I teach future forms to B1 adults?
Start from the learners' real calendars: a meeting already booked, a plan and a decision made in class give the present continuous, going to and will a real reason. Add a timetable for the present simple, then a time-zone task: set a call at 5 p.m. UTC and ask what time it'll be in each office. The scheme in Your 9 a.m. is my noon on edio.ai sorts the forms by situation.
What's good homework for practicing future forms?
Good homework is a real message about a real meeting: propose a time in UTC, give each city's local time, say what's going to happen and offer something with I'll. In the B1 lesson Your 9 a.m. is my noon on edio.ai, a gap-fill of offers and a matching exercise check themselves first; then students write that message and record their plans for next week, for the teacher to review.
Are there interactive exercises for future forms?
Yes: self-checking gap-fills and chat role-plays show at once whether a form fits. This page plays four parts of Your 9 a.m. is my noon, a B1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, without an account: the invite to a beta review, a call in which Beatriz and Tom plan it, a gap-fill that turns calendar notes into future forms, and a chat in which students find a time with Kenji. The other exercises are locked.
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