Future Continuous

Future continuous has two different forms: “will be doing ” and “be going to be doing.” Unlike simple future forms, future continuous forms are usually interchangeable.

FORM Future Continuous with “Will”

[will be + present participle]

Examples:

• You will be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.
• Will you be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight?
• You will not be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.

FORM Future Continuous with “Be Going To “

[am/is/are + going to be + present participle]

Examples:

• You are going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.
• Are you going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight?
• You are not going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.

REMEMBER: It is possible to use either “will” or “be going to” to create the future continuous with little difference in meaning.

Complete List of Future Continuous Forms

USE 1 Interrupted Action in the Future

Use the future continuous to indicate that a longer action in the future will be interrupted by a shorter action in the future. Remember this can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time.

Examples:

• I will be watching TV when she arrives tonight.
• I will be waiting for you when your bus arrives.
• I am going to be staying at the Madison Hotel, if anything happens and you need to contact me.
• He will be studying at the library tonight, so he will not see Jennifer when she arrives.

Notice in the examples above that the interruptions (marked in italics) are in simple present rather than simple future. This is because the interruptions are in time clauses, and you cannot use future tenses in time clauses.

USE 2 Specific Time as an Interruption in the Future

In USE 1, described above, the future continuous is interrupted by a short action in the future. In addition to using short actions as interruptions, you can also use a specific time as an interruption.

Examples:

• Tonight at 6 PM, I am going to be eating dinner.
  I will be in the process of eating dinner.
• At midnight tonight, we will still be driving through the desert.
  We will be in the process of driving through the desert.

REMEMBER

In the simple future, a specific time is used to show the time an action will begin or end. In the future continuous, a specific time interrupts the action.

Examples:

• Tonight at 6 PM, I am going to eat dinner.
  I am going to start eating at 6 PM.
• Tonight at 6 PM, I am going to be eating dinner.
  I am going to start earlier and I will be in the process of eating dinner at 6 PM.

USE 3 Parallel Actions in the Future

When you use the future continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it expresses the idea that both actions will be happening at the same time. The actions are parallel.

Examples:

• I am going to be studying and he is going to be making dinner.
• Tonight, they will be eating dinner, discussing their plans, and having a good time.
• While Ellen is reading, Tim will be watching television.
  Notice “is reading” because of the time clause containing “while.” (See Explanation Below)

USE 4 Atmosphere in the Future

In English, we often use a series of Parallel Actions to describe atmosphere at a specific point in the future.

Example:

• When I arrive at the party, everybody is going to be celebrating. Some will be dancing. Others are going to be talking. A few people will be eating pizza, and several people are going to be drinking beer. They always do the same thing.

REMEMBER No Future in Time Clauses

Like all future tenses, the future continuous cannot be used in clauses beginning with time expressions such as: when, while, before, after, by the time, as soon as, if, unless, etc. Instead of future continuous, present continuous is used.

Examples:

• While I am going to be finishing my homework, she is going to make dinner. Not Correct
• While I am finishing my homework, she is going to make dinner. Correct

AND REMEMBER Non-Continuous Verbs / Mixed Verbs

It is important to remember that non-continuous verbs cannot be used in any continuous tenses. Also, certain non-continuous meanings for mixed verbs cannot be used in continuous tenses.

Instead of using

future continuous with these verbs, you must use simple future.

Examples:

• Jane will be being at my house when you arrive. Not Correct
• Jane will be at my house when you arrive. Correct

ADVERB PLACEMENT

The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc.

Examples:

• You will still be waiting for her when her plane arrives.
• Will you still be waiting for her when her plane arrives?

• You are still going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives.
• Are you still going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives?

ACTIVE / PASSIVE

Examples:

• At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes. Active
• At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John. Passive

• At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes. Active
• At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by John. Passive

NOTE: Passive forms of the future continuous are not common.

More About Active / Passive Forms

Future Continuous Exercises

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?

Note that when we have a plan or intention to do something in the future, we usually use other tenses or expressions, such as the present continuous or going to

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