The Formal Future

• In advanced professional contexts, particularly in corporate acquisitions and executive announcements, we use special constructions to express scheduled, anticipated, or imminent future events. These forms add precision, formality, and rhetorical weight compared to simple future tenses.
• Structure
• Primary Nuance
• Example
• be to + infinitive
• Official arrangement, obligation, or decree
• The studio is to announce the merger in London.
• be expected to
• Logical prediction based on standard norms
• The target company is expected to sign in Seattle.
• be slated to
• Tentatively scheduled in a formal plan
• The valuation report is slated to arrive from Boston.
• be poised to
• Ready and positioned to act immediately
• The design firm in Chicago is poised to expand.
• be on the verge of
• Imminent transition or occurrence
• The founders are on the verge of closing the deal.
• be destined to
• Certain, inevitable future outcome
• The venture is destined to reshape the industry.
• Remember
• Use 'be to' for strict plans, formal arrangements, or official instructions.
• Use 'be poised to' and 'be on the verge of' to highlight that an event is about to happen right now.
• Use 'be slated to' when referring to an item on a formal schedule or tentative timetable.
• Examples
• The Brooklyn design consultancy is poised to sign the final papers.
• Our board of directors is slated to review the term sheet tomorrow.
• That independent studio in Austin is on the verge of announcing an exit.
• Common mistakes
• The studio is poised signing the contract.
• The studio is poised to sign the contract.
• We are on the verge to finalize the acquisition.
• We are on the verge of finalizing the acquisition.

Complete the sentences

• Our main design consultancy in Chicago (poised) ____ sign the acquisition papers next week.
• The official term sheet from the London buyer (slated) ____ arrive by Friday morning.
• The founders in Seattle (verge) ____ accepting the massive earn-out offer.
• The new chief design officer (destined) ____ lead the cultural integration across offices.
• The acquisition contracts (to) ____ be signed during the board meeting in Boston.
• The target company in Austin (expected) ____ publish the retention package details soon.

Sources: photo by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels