
Look at these examples to see how the future continuous and future perfect are used.
In three years' time, I'll be studying medicine.
In five years' time, I'll have finished studying medicine.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
Future continuous
We can use the future continuous (will/won't be + -ing form) to talk about future actions that:
- will be in progress at a specific time in the future:
When you come out of school tomorrow, I'll be boarding a plane.
Try to call before 8 o'clock. After that, we'll be watching the match.
You can visit us during the first week of July. I won't be working then.
- we see as new, different or temporary:
Today we're taking the bus but next week we'll be taking the train.
He'll be staying with his parents for several months while his father is in recovery.
Will you be starting work earlier with your new job?
Future perfect
We use the future perfect simple (will/won't have + past participle) to talk about something that will be completed before a specific time in the future.
The guests are coming at 8 p.m. I'll have finished cooking by then.
On 9 October we'll have been married for 50 years.
Will you have gone to bed when I get back?
We can use phrases like by or by the time (meaning 'at some point before') and in or in a day's time / in two months' time / in five years' time etc. (meaning 'at the end of this period') to give the time period in which the action will be completed.
I won't have written all the reports by next week.
By the time we arrive, the kids will have gone to bed.
I'll have finished in an hour and then we can watch a film.
In three years' time, I'll have graduated from university.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello Sarah Word,
Very often both will and will be verb-ing are possible in the same sentence. The choice depends on how the speaker sees the action.
Will implies a decision which is made at or around the time of speaking, or else a guess, prediction or belief about the future.
If Mr. Weasley said this, then we would understand that this was a decision he was making as or just before he spoke.
Similarly, in the second example, Hermione would be talking about her choice or decision.
Will be verb-ing is a little different. We often use it to describe something we see as a natural or expected result of a particular situation. It tells us something is expected and unsurprising, or an obvious conclusion.
When Mr. Weasley says we'll be spending it on..., we understand that for him this is an obvious and natural choice.
Similarly, when Hermione says I don't think I'll be studying it much longer, she is implying that this is the obvious result of her poor experience in Divination classes to date.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello cittàutopica,
The reason have is needed is because we have the auxiliary will. To make a perfect modal verb we use have: will have, should have, could have, might hate etc.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Lovely_Indeed
You're right -- 'I'm not coming' is also a possible correct form here, though of course it doesn't fit in the gap. In fact, in some of the other sentences other forms are also possible, but the gaps limit the answers you can write.
It's a difficult to explain the difference between 'I won't be coming' and 'I'm not coming' without knowing the precise context, but in general it's a matter of how the speaker views the time she is talking about. 'I'm not coming' is a simple statement of a plan, but 'I won't be coming' can imply, for example, that the speaker is thinking of how she's going to be sitting in a meeting at the time she had planned to go to a party. In other words, she's thinking of actions in progress at a specific time later that evening.
So both sentences communicate the basic idea that she's not going, but using the future continuous form can communicate subtle ideas as well.
Hope this helps.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
I think will be used is the most likely option here. Will have been used would suggest that its use had ended, unless you add a duration: will have been used for over twenty years.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team