Monday, August 10, 2015

Future Continuous (or Progressive)

The Future Continuous tense is often used in English as a way to talk about something happening at a given point in the future.


How do we make the Future Continuous Tense?

The structure of the Future Continuous tense is:

subject + auxiliary will + auxiliary be + main verb
                will                      be                    present participle (-ing)

FUNCTIONS

The future continuous refers to an unfinished action or event that will be in progress at a time later than now. The future continuous is used for quite a few different purposes.

1. The future continuous can be used to project ourselves into the future.

EXAMPLES
This time next week I will be sun-bathing in Bali.
By Christmas I will be skiing like a pro.
Just think, next Monday you will be working in your new job.


2. The future continuous can be used for predicting or guessing about future events.

EXAMPLES
He'll be coming to the meeting, I expect.
I guess you'll be feeling thirsty after working in the sun.
You'll be missing the sunshine once you're back in England.


3. In the interrogative form, the future continuous can be used to ask politely for information about the future.

EXAMPLES
Will you be bringing your friend to the pub tonight?
Will Jim be coming with us?
Will she be going to the party tonight?

4. The future continuous can be used to refer to continuous events that we expect to happen in the future.

EXAMPLES
I'll be seeing Jim at the conference next week.
When he is in Australia he will be staying with friends.
I'll be eating with Jane this evening so I can tell her.

Contracted forms:
Look at these example sentences with the Future Continuous tense:
We often use contracted forms: 
She'll be cooking dinner by the time I'll get home.
We'll be working all night







In negative sentences we may contract with won't like this:
You won't be playing golf, will you?
They won't be using their car tomorrow.


How do we use the Future Continuous Tense?

The Future Continuous tense expresses action at a particular moment in the future. The action will have started before that moment but it will not have finished at that moment. For example:
Tomorrow I will start work at 2pm and stop work at 6pm:
  • pastpresentfuture
    4pm
    At 4pm, I will be in the middle of working.
    At 4pm tomorrow, I will be working.
  • When we use the Future Continuous tense, our listener usually knows or understands what time we are talking about. Look at these examples:
  • I will be playing tennis at 10am tomorrow.               
  • They won't be watching TV at 9pm tonight.
  • What will you be doing at 10pm tonight?
taken from: 
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verb-tenses_future-continuous.htm

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