The Future Continuous Tense

The future continuous is made up of two elements: the simple future of the verb 'to be' + the present participle (base+ing)

Subject	simple future, ' to be '	base+ ing
You	will be	watching

Affirmative I will be asking

Negative She won't be leaving

Interrogative Will they be retiring?

Interrogative negative Won't we be staying?

Example for the verb to stay, future continuous:

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
Iwill be staying	I won't be staying	Will I be staying?
You will be staying	You won't be staying	Will you be staying?
He, she, it will be staying	He won't be staying	Will she be staying?
We will be staying	We won't be staying	Will we be staying?
You will be staying	You won't be staying	Will you be staying?
They will be staying	They won't be staying	Will they be staying?

You may write the examples on the blackboard/whiteboard and ask students to write them down.

The future continuous is formed with shall/will + be + - ing:

– I/we shall be doing

– You/he/she/it/they will be doing

We can use the future continuous to talk about events that will be happening at a particular time in the future:

– This time next month we' ll be sailing through the Caribbean.

– I hope the race goes well. We' ll be watching it on TV.

We can also use the future continuous to talk about things that we expect to happen in the usual course of events. In this case it does not suggest "continuousness":

– You' ll be seeing her soon, won't you?

– Management will be meeting the union representative again presently.

We can also use the future continuous to make polite enquiries, when we wish to know what somebody's plans are:

– Will you be coming along with us this evening?

We can also use the future continuous to talk about what we believe or guess is happening at the moment of speaking:

– They' ll be arriving in New York just about now.

– I wouldn't phone just yet - she' ll be having her weekly massage.

Exercise 1. Ask students using either the auxiliary shall or the auxiliary will for the first person, to fill in the blanks with the Future Continuous of the verbs shown in brackets. For example:

We _______________ you tomorrow. (to see)

We shall be seeing you tomorrow. or We will be seeing you tomorrow.

1. He will be attending school next year. (to attend)

2. You will be coming with us. (to come)

3. It will be growing warmer. (to grow)

4. They will be buying new furniture. (to buy)

5. She will be watching the clock. (to watch)

6. I shall be going downtown. (to go)

7. You will be cutting the cake. (to cut)

8. They will be reading the newspaper. (to read)

9. We shall be visiting the museum. (to visit)

Exercise 2. Ask students using either the auxiliary shall or the auxiliary will for the first person, to fill in the blanks with the Future Continuous of the verbs shown in brackets. For example:

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