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 Tim,
That's correct and is a good summary. Well done!
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
In 1, the projects won't necessarily be finished in five years' time. In 2, the projects will have already been finished by then.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Maahir,
Both going to and the future continuous show plans, but the future continuous shows a higher degree of certainty. If you say I will be buying a new car, it shows that you are very sure that this will actually happen. If you say I am going to buy a new car, it doesn't show such certainty. Buying a new car may be just your dream or intention.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Jack Red,
You are right that both forms (will turn and will be turning) are correct here.
I think the explanations you quote are only examples of uses, not the only uses possible. It's quite possible to use will + verb to describe choices (things we control), for example, as well as things we do not control. It's also quite possible to use will be + verbing to describe things that we expect (in the present as well as the future) as part of a normal and predictable process.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Zuzanna,
I'm afraid I can't think of an example for that usage off the top of my head -- that sounds strange to me. Sorry!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Paula81,
I'd need to see the full context for these sentences to be able to explain the future continuous form here with full confidence, but I expect that 'will' is being used to talk about typical behaviour here. It sounds as if the writer is thinking of what typically happens when he or she travels with this person.
This is an advanced use of 'will' that is analogous to the use of 'would' to speak about typical past behaviour. You can see a short explanation of this use of 'will' under the section Habitual events on this Cambridge Dictionary page; there's an explanation of this use of 'would' on our Talking about the past page, under Past events and situations.
Hope this helps you make sense of it -- it's great that you noticed it!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello SaraZaber,
You could use either of the sentences, but I'd recommend the second one. If you use the passive voice (first sentence), it suggests the revision is more mechanical, as if it were something that will happen whether or not the students participate. The second one doesn't have this same sense.
It's a subtle difference and up to you which is better. You could also make it even more active by saying 'We will begin the revision for the mid-term exam on Monday'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again SaraZaber,
I would use the second one. The first one is grammatically correct, but sounds more formal than any situation I've ever taught in. But if you think the first one is more appropriate for your context, that might be a better choice.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Htoo Sandi Soe Moe,
Both are possible. The first version (with going to) suggests that this is your plan or intention but may change. The second version (with will be studying) suggests that the situation is certain and no longer just a plan or a hope.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ayn,
All of those sentences are correct. Future forms are often a matter of choice: how the speaker sees the action and what the speaker chooses to emphasise. Without any context to indicate this, you could use any of these forms and none of them are impossible.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Ayn,
We often use [will be + verb-ing] to talk about things that occur as part of the normal course of events. This form signals that we expect something to happen and see it as normal and unsurprising.
You can read more about future forms on this page:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/talking-about-the-future
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Ayn,
Yes, we can. As I said, future forms are often a matter of choice. The speaker can choose from several possibilities, depending on the context and the speaker's intention. In some contexts there may be a difference in meaning but in others only a difference in emphasis. This is why context is so important and why exercises which do not provide a context are often not very helpful.
For example:
Here there is a difference. In the first sentence, the meal starts at 4.00. In the second sentence the meal will be in progress at 4.00 and will start earlier than this.
Here the only difference is one of style and emphasis.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Jaiime_edg,
Both versions of the sentence (with 'At' and 'By') are grammatically correct, though 'by' is probably better here. I'd recommend something like 'Class will have started by 7.30'. This doesn't communicate exactly the same information as the original sentence, but it's pretty close.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello David7417,
It's difficult to explain these sorts of differences without a specific context or the speaker's intentions, but maybe this will help. The first and third sentences could be used to indicate that you plan to read a book tomorrow. The first one makes it sound as if you have a very firm plan that will not change; the third one is less firm, but clearly states your intention to read the book.
The second one could be used in many different contexts, but in general it shows that you're thinking about tomorrow as a period of time in which you'll be reading. It could be that you planned to be reading (as in the first and third sentences) and someone asks you if you'll join them for lunch as usual, but you say that you can't because you'll be reading a book tomorrow.
But there are many other possible situations in which you could use a continuous form. I'd suggest you pay attention for this form as you read and listen to texts in English so that you can analyse how it's used.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello mikel,
Both at and by are possible here.
In both sentences you are looking back and speculating about a past event.
If you say at then you are suggesting that the class began at 7.30 and are looking back from a later point (7.45, 8.00 etc).
If you say by then you are saying that the class started before this time, but you do not know exactly when.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Sokhom,
No, we need to change to This building will have been finished by next month. It's the passive voice in the future perfect (will have been + past participle).
It needs the passive because the verb finish refers to 'building work', which needs either a personal subject (e.g. The builders will have finished the building by next month) or to be in the passive (e.g. This building will have been finished).
Does that make sense?
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Via,
Good question! Be doesn't work here because be arrived is a passive structure (be + past participle). The passive doesn't make sense with arrived - we can't say, for example, Rory was arrived by (someone).
This sentence needs the future perfect. Although the time reference refers to the time up to the present (by now), not the time up to a future time, we also use will to show our beliefs about the present (see more examples here). That's why have is the answer here.
Does that make sense?
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Tshewang Rinzin,
Don't worry! Everyone here is here to learn and improve. If this page is too difficult, you can try lower level grammar here.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello samira_kitten,
In ten years' time denotes a precise time in the future: ten years from now (the moment of speaking).
In the next ten years is less precise. It means any time within the next ten years, so it could be in an hour or in nine years and eleven months.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello AsahiYo20,
The future continuous is used here to express the speaker's expectation. It is a prediction about the future based upon what the speaker knows, similar to going to.
While going to would express a future based upon present evidence, the future continuous expresses an expectation based upon the speaker's knowledge and experience.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi again AshahiYo20,
It's important to remember that the use of future forms in English is very nuanced and often dependent on the speaker's perspective rather than objective facts in the world. Attempts to tie usage down to very specific situations or elements of meaning tend to fall afoul of this. However, it is useful to identify certain tendencies.
1. I think this is accurate to a degree, though I'm not sure the distinction between subjective and objective evidence is necessarily one which is clear and unambiguous.
2. Yes, you could use will + verb here. It would indicate a greater degree of certainty, in my opinion.
3. Yes, I think this is true.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team