Sign inFuture Continuous
The future continuous tense is used by native English speakers quite often and this is your chance to learn and understand this tense so you can start using it.
What Is Future Continuous Tense?
The future continuous (also known as the future progressive) tense is often used in English as a way to talk about an action or event happening at a given point in the future. It indicates that something will occur in the future and continue for an expected length of time.
Future Continuous: Structure
We form the future continuous with the modal verb 'will,' the auxiliary verb 'be' and the present participle of the main verb.
Future Continuous: Negation
For negative sentences we put 'not' between the modal verb 'will' and the auxiliary verb 'be':
She will be using the car. → She will
We will be having dinner. → We will
When we use the future continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and will:
I
In negative sentences, you can contract 'will not' as won't, like this:
I
Future Continuous: Questions
To form yes/no questions sentences in the future continuous tense, simply exchange the subject and 'will.' Here are some examples:
He
To form wh- question in the future continuous tense, follow the same procedure as for yes/no questions and place the appropriate wh- question word at the beginning of the sentence while omitting the part that constitutes the answer.
He will be cooking dinner this evening. →
Tip!
If you want to learn more about spelling rules for adding -ing to the base form of verbs, see here.
Using Future Continuous to Talk about Ongoing Actions in the Future
Future Continuous: Use
When someone uses the future continuous, they are thinking about:
- Ongoing Actions at Some Point in the Future
Ongoing Actions at Some Point in the Future
We use the 'future continuous tense' to talk about an unfinished action that will be in progress at a time later than now. When we talk about unfinished actions, it means they have started earlier and continued until a particular point in the future, and they may continue. For example:
At 4 p.m. tomorrow, I
They
We use the 'future continuous tense' to talk about an action that will be in progress in the future and gets interrupted by a shorter action. Shorter action refers to an interruption that occurs during the ongoing action but does not last for a long time. Check out these examples:
She
I
We use the 'future continuous tense' to project ourselves into the future when we have already made a decision or plan to do something. It indicates our intention or commitment to an ongoing action or event in the future. For example:
By Christmas Jane and I
This time next month I
We use the 'future continuous tense' with 'still', to talk about events that are already happening now and that we expect to continue until some time into the future. It means that the event started in the past, is still ongoing, and may happen in the future as well. For example:
In one year he
Sadly, prices
We use the 'future continuous tense' to predict future events. It means we are not totally sure whether it happens or not, but we think it is going to happen. check out the following examples:
I expect that she
You
We can use the 'future continuous tense' to talk about ongoing events that we expect to happen in the future. This means that we predict that they are about to happen.
I
When James is in Germany, he
We use the 'future continuous tense' to talk about planned or scheduled events in the future, often as a reminder, or warning. For example:
We
We
When Not to Use Future Continuous Tense
We do not normally use the continuous tense with stative verbs (also known as non-continuous verbs). Action verbs describe activities like 'running', 'thinking', and 'seeing'. Stative verbs describe states of existence, for example, 'be', 'seem', and 'know'.
When you see him tomorrow, he will be seeming) like a different person.
You
Review
Future continuous tense is used to talk about actions that are supposed to be in progress at a particular time in the future.
| structure | Subject + will + be + -ing form |
|---|---|
| affirmative |
He |
| contraction |
He |
| negative |
He |
| contraction |
He |
| yes/ no question |
|
| -wh question |
|
Future Continuous Tense Is Mainly Used for
- Ongoing actions in the future
- Predictions about future
- Changes
- Fixed arrangements
- Polite enquiries
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