Tonight, a song about the oldest question in the world: what will happen to me?
Learn from Songs · Unit 4: The future · A2–B1
Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)
A famous song about the future that nobody can see: questions with will (Will I be…? What will happen?), predictions with will, might, probably, and plans with going to, with Philo, and a fortune teller in the market of Alexandria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
And what’s the answer?
SOPHIA
The answer is in the title. In Spanish, more or less.
MARCOS
Que será, será! Even I know that one.
Before you listen: the song
Hollywood, 1956
“Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the Alfred Hitchcock thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). It won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
In the film, Doris Day plays a mother whose young son has been kidnapped. At the end, she sings this song very loudly at a party in an embassy, hoping her son, locked upstairs, will hear her and recognise her voice. He does, and he whistles back.
In the song, a little girl asks her mother what her future will be like. Her mother answers that nobody can see the future. Later, as a young woman, she asks the man she loves the same question about their life together. And at the end, her own children ask her. The answer is always the same.
The expression is very old: a version of it appears in an English play from 1590, Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus.
Whatever will be, will be.
Listen: three questions
PHILO
Listen once. Who asks the question in each verse: a child, a young woman, children?
SOPHIA
Then listen for the questions with Will…? and the answer. Answer Section A.
🔮 Listen to the song: “Que Sera, Sera” (Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, 1956), sung by Doris Day.Find the recording on YouTube →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Que Sera, Sera”, Doris Day.Read the lyrics →
Questions about the future
DEMETRIA
Will I be famous? What will happen? Will we be happy?
SOPHIA
Will + subject + base verb? Will it rain? Will you help me? Wh- questions: What will…? Where will…? When will…? Short answers: Yes, you will. No, it won’t.
Predictions: will, might, probably
MARCOS
I will be rich! Well, I might be rich. I’ll probably be a runner.
SOPHIA
From certain to uncertain: will → will probably → might → probably won’t → won’t. Position: I’ll probably… but I probably won’t… And maybe / perhaps go at the start: Maybe I’ll…
Plans: going to
PHILO
But if I decide something, I can say: I’m going to study medicine.
SOPHIA
Exactly. Nobody can see the future, but we can make plans: be going to + verb. Whatever happens, I’m going to try.
Sophia’s comparison: the oracle
SOPHIA
At Delphi, people paid the oracle to tell their future. King Croesus asked whether he should attack Persia, and was told that if he did, a great empire would fall. He attacked, and it did: his own.
PHILO
And our wise man, Ben Sira, says: do not seek what is too hard for you; think about what you have been commanded.
DEMETRIA
So: stop asking about the future, and do your homework.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Will + subject + verb? | questions about the future | Will I be happy? |
| What / Where / When will…? | wh- questions | What will happen? |
| will, will probably, might | predictions, from certain to uncertain | It might rain. |
| maybe / perhaps + will | uncertainty at the start of the sentence | Maybe I’ll be a doctor. |
| be going to | plans and decisions | I’m going to study hard. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. Who asks the first question in the song?
2. What is the answer every time?
3. Who asks the question at the end?
4. Which film was the song written for?
5. Why does Doris Day sing it loudly in the film?
6. What prize did the song win?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. I be famous one day? (question)
8. What happen next year?
9. It’s cloudy. It rain later. (perhaps)
10. I’ll be a doctor. (very likely)
11. I’m to study medicine. (plan)
12. Will you help me? Yes, I .
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “Will you to come tomorrow?”
14. “It might snow tonight.”
15. “I probably will not come.”
16. “Maybe I’ll be a teacher.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Fortune teller game. One student is the fortune teller. The others ask Will I…? questions; the fortune teller answers with will, might, probably, won’t.
Discuss. 1. Would you like to know your future? Why? 2. Is it better to plan or to accept “whatever will be”? 3. Why do people still read horoscopes?
Write (80–100 words). Ten years from now. Write predictions about your life in ten years (I’ll probably…, I might…, I won’t…) and one plan you are going to start now.
Now play the gamebook: Philo and the fortune teller in the market.Play the gamebook →