Schedules with 予定です

～予定です ~yotei desu Plan to; be scheduled to

予定です (yotei desu) says something is on the schedule: the meeting is on Monday, the train is due at nine. It sounds more fixed than つもり.

Level: JLPT N5, beginner
Type: Plans and purpose
English links: future forms, present continuous for future, present simple for timetables

What it means

予定 means plan or schedule. Put it after the dictionary form of a verb, the plain form such as する or 来る, and add です. 会議をする予定です means "We are having a meeting" or "A meeting is scheduled".

You can also put it after a noun with の: 運動会の予定です. And 予定 is a noun on its own, so 予定があります means "I have plans".

The difference from つもり matters. つもり is what you have decided in your head. 予定 is on the calendar. Often other people set it: the school, the timetable, your boss. You will hear 予定 all day in the staff room, because school life runs on schedules.

How to build it

Pattern	How it works
Dictionary form + 予定です dictionary form + yotei desu	する → する予定です. Something is scheduled to happen.
Noun + の予定です noun + no yotei desu	明日は運動会の予定です. The plan for tomorrow is sports day.
予定があります / ありません yotei ga arimasu / arimasen	I have plans / I have no plans.

Examples

来週の月曜日に会議をする予定です。 raishuu no getsuyoubi ni kaigi o suru yotei desu. We're having a meeting next Monday.
電車は九時に着く予定です。 densha wa kuji ni tsuku yotei desu. The train is due to arrive at nine.
明日は運動会の予定です。 ashita wa undoukai no yotei desu. Sports day is scheduled for tomorrow.
校長先生は三時に来る予定です。 kouchou sensei wa sanji ni kuru yotei desu. The principal is supposed to come at three.
今晩、予定がありますか。 konban, yotei ga arimasu ka. Do you have plans tonight?

How English says it

English has no single phrase for 予定. For an arrangement with people, the present continuous is the most natural: "We're having a meeting on Monday." For a timetable, English uses the present simple: "The train arrives at nine." "Be scheduled to" and "be due to" are correct, but more formal.

The noun is a trap. 予定 is usually "plans", not "schedule". "I have plans tonight" is natural. "I have a schedule tonight" is not.

Why it can make English hard

Many students learn 予定 as "schedule" and use that word for everything: "My schedule is shopping."
English uses the present continuous and the present simple to talk about the future. That feels wrong to many learners, who expect "will" for every future event.
The difference between つもり and 予定 does not map neatly onto "going to" and "plan to", so students may mix up intention and arrangement.

Mistakes you will hear

I have a schedule tonight. I have plans tonight. For social plans, English says "plans", usually plural.
Tomorrow is sports day schedule. Sports day is tomorrow. 運動会の予定です translated word by word. English can just state the fact.
The train will arrive at nine o'clock schedule. The train arrives at nine. Timetables use the present simple. "Schedule" does not need to appear.

In the classroom

Use the real school calendar. Students read the week's events aloud with the present continuous: "On Thursday we're having a fire drill."
Play "Are you free?" One student invites, the other checks a made-up diary and answers "Sorry, I have plans" or "Sure, I'm free."
Sort sentences into two boxes: "my decision" (つもり, going to) and "on the calendar" (予定, present continuous). A quick way to show the difference.

Practice

Try each one, then open it to check.

1. Fill the gap: バスは八時に出る＿＿です。 (The bus is due to leave at eight.)

Answer: 予定

A timetable is on the schedule, so 予定 fits better than つもり.
2. Fill the gap: 明日は試験＿予定です。 (The plan for tomorrow is a test.)

Answer: の

Use の between a noun and 予定.
3. A student writes "Do you have schedule on Saturday?" Fix it.

Answer: Do you have any plans on Saturday?

予定 here means plans. "Any" makes the question natural.
4. Translate: 来週の月曜日に会議をする予定です。

Answer: We're having a meeting next Monday.

An arrangement with people uses the present continuous in English.