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 verb WILL | + | auxiliary verb BE | + | main verb |
invariable | invariable | present participle | ||||
will | be | base + ing |
For negative sentences in the Future Continuous tense, we insert not between will and be . For question sentences, we exchange the subject and will . Look at these example sentences with the Future Continuous tense:
subject | auxiliary verb | auxiliary verb | main verb | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+ | I | will | be | working | at 10am. | |
+ | You | will | be | lying | on a beach tomorrow. | |
- | She | will | not | be | using | the car. |
- | We | will | not | be | having | dinner at home. |
? | Will | you | be | playing | football? | |
? | Will | they | be | watching | TV? |
Contraction with Future Continuous
When we use the Future Continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and WILL:
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 may 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 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:
At 4pm tomorrow, I will be working. | ||||||
past | present | future | ||||
| ||||||
At 4pm, I will be in the middle of 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?
- What will you be doing when I arrive?
- She will not be sleeping when you telephone her.
- We 'll be having dinner when the film starts.
- Take your umbrella. It will be raining when you return.
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