Future Perfect Continuous

The Future Perfect Continuous tense looks at the past from the future.

How do we make the Future Perfect Continuous Tense?

The structure of the Future Perfect Continuous tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary will	+	auxiliary have	+	auxiliary be	+	main verb
		invariable		invariable		past participle		present participle
		will		have		been		base + ing

For negative sentences in the Future Perfect Continuous tense, we insert not between will and have. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and will. Look at these example sentences with the Future Perfect Continuous:

	subject	auxiliary verb		auxiliary verb	auxiliary verb	main verb
+	I	will		have	been	working	for four hours.
+	You	will		have	been	travelling	for two days.
-	She	will	not	have	been	using	the car.
-	We	will	not	have	been	waiting	long.
?	Will	you		have	been	playing	football?
?	Will	they		have	been	watching	TV?

We sometimes use shall instead of will, especially for I and we.

Contraction with Future Perfect Continuous

In speaking with the Future Perfect Continuous tense, we often contract the subject and WILL:

I will	I'll
you will	you'll
he will she will it will	he'll she'll it'll
we will	we'll
they will	they'll

• I'll have been driving for five hours.
• She'll have been watching TV.

In negative sentences, we may contract with won't, like this:

I will not	I won't
you will not	you won't
he willnot she will not it will not	he won't she won't it won't
we will not	we won't
they will not	they won't

• You won't have been drinking, will you?
• We won't have been driving for long.

How do we use the Future Perfect Continuous Tense?

The Future Perfect Continuous tense is like the Future Perfect tense, but it expresses longer actions or states extending up to some specific event or time in the future. For example:

• Ram starts waiting at 9am. I am late and cannot arrive before 10am. Ram will have been waiting for an hour by the time I meet him.

Ram will have been waiting for one hour when I arrive.
past	present	future
	Ram starts waiting at 9am.
9 10
		I will arrive in future at 10am.

Notice that the long action or state can start at any time in the past, presentor future, but of course it always ends in the future.

Next Monday we will have been living here for exactly five years.
past	present	future
next Mon.   5 yrs ago

Look at these examples:

• He'll be tired when he gets here. He'll have been travelling all day.
• How long will Jo have been working when he retires?
• Next month I'll have been studying Chinese for two years.
• Will you have been working when I arrive?
• He won't have been studying long enough to qualify.
• Next week Jane is going to swim from England to France. By the time she gets to France she'll have been swimming non-stop for over thirteen hours.

Future Perfect

The Future Perfect tense is quite an easy tense to understand and use. The Future Perfect talks about the past in the future.

How do we make the Future Perfect tense?

The structure of the Future Perfect tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb WILL	+	auxiliary verb HAVE	+	main verb
		invariable		invariable		past participle
		will		have		V3

Look at these example sentences in the Future Perfect tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		auxiliary verb	main verb
+	I	will		have	finished	by 10am.
+	You	will		have	forgotten	me by then.
-	She	will	not	have	gone	to school.
-	We	will	not	have	left.
?	Will	you		have	arrived?
?	Will	they		have	received	it?

Contraction with Future Perfect

In speaking with the Future Perfect tense, we often contract the subjectand will. Sometimes, we may contract the subject, will and have all together:

I will have	I'll have	I'll've
you will have	you'll have	you'll've
he will have she will have it will have	he'll have she'll have it'll have	he'll've she'll've it'll've
we will have	we'll have	we'll've
they will have	they'll have	they'll've

• I'll have finished when you arrive.
• She'll have forgotten everything.
• They'll've had their dinner by then.

In negative sentences, we may contract with won't or won't've, like this:

• Anthony won't have arrived by then.
• They won't've finished the car tomorrow.

We sometimes use shall instead of will, especially for I and we.

How do we use the Future Perfect tense?

The Future Perfect tense expresses action in the future before another action in the future. This is the past in the future. For example:

• The train will leave the station at 9am. You will arrive at the station at 9.15am. When you arrive, the train will have left.

The train will have left when you arrive.
past	present	future
		Train leaves in future at 9am.
9   9:15
		You arrive in future at 9.15am.

Look at some more examples:

• You can call me at work at 8am. I will have arrived at the office by 8.
• They will be tired when they arrive. They will not have slept for a long time.
• "Mary won't be at home when you arrive." / "Really? Where will she have gone?"

You can sometimes think of the Future Perfect tense like the Present Perfect tense, but instead of your viewpoint being in the present, it is in the future:

have done →
	will have done →
past	present	future

Future Continuous

The Future Continuous tense is often used in English as a way to talk about something happening at a given point in the future.

How do we make the Future Continuous tense?

The structure of the Future Continuous tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb WILL	+	auxiliary verb BE	+	main verb
		invariable		invariable		present participle
		will		be		base + ing

For negative sentences in the Future Continuous tense, we insert not between will and be. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and will. Look at these example sentences with the Future Continuous tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		auxiliary verb	main verb
+	I	will		be	working	at 10am.
+	You	will		be	lying	on a beach tomorrow.
-	She	will	not	be	using	the car.
-	We	will	not	be	having	dinner at home.
?	Will	you		be	playing	football?
?	Will	they		be	watching	TV?

We sometimes use shall instead of will, especially for I and we.

Contraction with Future Continuous

When we use the Future Continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and WILL:

I will	I'll
you will	you'll
he will she will it will	he'll she'll it'll
we will	we'll
they will	they'll

In negative sentences, we may contract with won't, like this:

I will not	I won't
you will not	you won't
he will not she will not it will not	he won't she won't it won't
we will not	we won't
they will not	they won't

How do we use the Future Continuous tense?

The Future Continuous tense expresses action at a particular moment in the future. The action will have started before that moment but it will not have finished at that moment. For example, tomorrow I will start work at 2pm and stop work at 6pm:

At 4pm tomorrow, I will be working.
past	present	future
4pm
		At 4pm, I will be in the middle of working.

When we use the Future Continuous tense, our listener usually knows or understands what time we are talking about. Look at these examples:

• I will be playing tennis at 10am tomorrow.
• They won't be watching TV at 9pm tonight.
• What will you be doing at 10pm tonight?
• What will you be doing when I arrive?
• She will not be sleeping when you telephone her.
• We'll be having dinner when the film starts.
• Take your umbrella. It will be raining when you return.

Future Simple

The Future Simple tense is often called the "will tense" because we make the Future Simple with the modal auxiliary will.

How do we make the Future Simple tense?

The structure of the Future Simple tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary will	+	main verb
		invariable		base
		will		V1

For negative sentences in the Future Simple tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the Future Simple tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I	will		open	the door.
+	You	will		finish	before me.
-	She	will	not	be	at school tomorrow.
-	We	will	not	leave	yet.
?	Will	you		arrive	on time?
?	Will	they		want	dinner?

We sometimes use shall instead of will, especially for I and we.

Contraction with Future Simple

When we use the Future Simple tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and auxiliary verb:

I will	I'll
you will	you'll
he will she will it will	he'll she'll it'll
we will	we'll
they will	they'll

In negative sentences, we contract with won't, like this:

I will not	I won't
you will not	you won't
he will not she will not it will not	he won't she won't it won't
we will not	we won't
they will not	they won't

How do we use the Future Simple tense?

No Plan

We use the Future Simple tense when there is no plan or decision to do something before we speak. We make the decision spontaneously at the time of speaking. Look at these examples:

• Hold on. I'll get a pen.
• We will see what we can do to help you.
• Maybe we'll stay in and watch television tonight.

In these examples, we had no firm plan before speaking. The decision is made at the time of speaking.

We often use the Future Simple tense with the verb to think before it:

• I think I'll go to the gym tomorrow.
• I think I will have a holiday next year.
• I don't think I'll buy that car.

Prediction

We often use the Future Simple tense to make a prediction about the future. Again, there is no firm plan. We are saying what we think will happen. Here are some examples:

• It will rain tomorrow.
• People won't go to Jupiter before the 22nd century.
• Who do you think will get the job?

Be

When the main verb is be, we can use the Future Simple tense even if we have a firm plan or decision before speaking. Examples:

• I'll be in London tomorrow.
• I'm going shopping. I won't be very long.
• Will you be at work tomorrow?