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Be going to

531e

Be going to 

(and the contracted form gonna) is often used in direction-giving in

AmE, which is not a characteristic use in BrE, which typically uses imperatives

(with and without you), and present or future forms with will:

You

’re gonna go two blocks and then you’re gonna see a big white building. 

(AmE)

A: Come to T-junction, turn left. Go down there about half a mile, you come to

a right turn with a pub on the corner.

B: Yep.

A: You turn right there, that takes you straight into it.

B: Right lovely. Thank you very much. 

(BrE)

I guess, I suppose, I reckon

531f

The modal expression I guess is about 30 times more frequent in spoken AmE

than in BrE. I suppose and I reckon are much more frequent in spoken BrE. 

I reckon 

is relatively rare in AmE:

I guess I create a lot of stress in my life. 

(AmE)

I reckon we should have some coffee after this. 

(BrE)

I suppose we could just go to a club somewhere. 

(BrE)

882 | Appendix: North American English grammar

Cambridge Grammar of English

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