The Future Continuous Tense

I. The Formation

The Future Continuous is formed by means of the Future Indefinite of the Auxiliary verb ''to be'' and Participle I of the notional verb.

• He will be reading.
• Will he be reading?
• He will not be reading.

II. The Use

1) The Future Continuous is used to denote an action which will be going on at a definite moment in the future.

• This time tomorrow I will be flying to Bucharest.
• I will still be working when you return.

2) The Future Continuous is used to make predictions about something we believe to be the case now:

· You can’t interrupt her now. She’ll be getting ready to go on stage, won’t she?

· “What’s the noise?” – “It’ll be Ron next door. He’s learning to play the trumpet.”

3) The Future Continuous is used to denote actions which will definitely happen in the future as the result of a previous arrangement.

• I can't go with you. I will be helping my mum.

· ‘How about joining us at the cottage this Sunday?’ – ‘Oh, we can’t. We’ll be coming back from Edinburgh on Sunday.”

· Trains won’t be running between East Putney and Putney Bridge this weekend due to essential track repairs.

4) As with the future continuous the future event is seen as arranged, we use it as a tactful way of asking about someone’s plans or refusing an invitation:

· Will you be staying long?

· I’m sorry, I can’t come to your wedding as I’ll be working on that day.

• Shall we be meeting tomorrow, Mr. Brown?
• Will Helen be using the fax machine for long? I have to send a fax.

5) The Future Continuous is used to express future without intention. That means that a predicted event will happen independently of the will or intention of anyone concerned. When we use the Future Continuous we mean that the action is inevitable:

· I’ll be seeing Tom tomorrow.

· I’ll be seeing Mr Kennedy at the court tomorrow – he’s always there on Thursdays – so we can discuss your case briefly then.

The Future Perfect Tense

I. The Formation

The Future Perfect is formed by means of the auxiliary verb ''to have'' in the Future Indefinite and Participle II of the notional verb.

• He will have spoken.
• Will he have spoken?
• He will not have spoken.

II. The Use

1) The Future Perfect is used to denote an action that begins before a certain moment of time in the future and goes up to that moment or into it. We use the tense to make predictions about actions which we expect to be completed by a particular time in the future. Compare:

• They will have painted the room by Thursday. (Exclusive)
• They will have been married for ten years next Saturday. (Inclusive)
• He’ll have had an operation by May and should be a lot fitter then.

Note 1: The following time indications can be used: before, by the time, by then, till/until (only in negative sentences)

• He won't have repaired my camera till the end of this week.

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