Future Continuous
The future continuous tense is used to talk about actions that will be in progress in the future. The future continuous may be formed with the modal verb -will or the structure "be going to be" combined with the present participle of a dynamic verb. The present participle form of all verbs (regular and irregular) are formed by adding -ing to their infinitive form. This tense should only be used with dynamic verbs (actions that have a clear beginning and end) not stative verbs (actions that describe states).
Note: Some stative verbs have both a stative form and a dynamic form.
This tense is used:
1) To describe actions that will be in progress in the future.
2) To describe actions that will be ongoing at exact times in the future.
3) To describe situations that are temporary or new.
4) To talk about simultaneous actions in the future.
Time Expressions
The future continuous tense is often used with future time expressions. However, it is not necessary to always mention a future time expression when using a future tense if the context of the future was already established by a previous statement or question in a conversation.
Formation - Affirmative Statements & Questions
Affirmative statements in the future continuous tense are formed using the modal verb -will followed by the infinitive form of the verb -be and the present participle of a dynamic verb, modal verbs are not conjugated depending on the subject and they have their own negation and question forms that do not require the verb -do. There is also a second way to form the future continuous tense in English with the structure "be going to be + present participle of a dynamic verb", the first auxiliary verb -be in this structure must agree with the subject, this phrase is used more in conversation and is generally more informal. The structure "will be + present participle of a dynamic verb" is generally more appropriate when expressing facts while the structure "be going to be + present participle of a dynamic verb" is more appropriate when expressing decisions and intentions. Questions are formed by placing the modal verb -will before the subject followed by the infinitive form of the verb -be and the present participle of a dynamic verb, alternatively questions may be formed with the structure "be going to be" in which case the verb -be is placed before the subject followed by "going to be + present participle of a dynamic verb".
Will
Structure used to form affirmative statements in the future continuous
Subject + will be + present participle of a dynamic verb
Structure used to form affirmative questions in the future continuous
Will + Subject + be+ present participle of a dynamic verb?
Examples:
Ex: I will be staying with family for a month.
Ex: He'll be playing poker all day tomorrow.
Ex: Mark will be preparing for his exams.
Ex: Next week, they will be meeting with their new clients.
Be going to
Structure used to form affirmative statements in the future continuous
Subject + am / is / are + going to be + present participle of a dynamic verb
Structure used to form affirmative questions in the future continuous
Am / Is / Are + subject + going to be + present participle of a dynamic verb?
Examples:
Ex: I'm going to be relaxing on a beach 2 days from now.
Ex: He is going to be hanging out with friends over the weekend.
Ex: Anthony and Kate are going to be renovating their home.
Ex: We are going to be watching the Yankees play on Sunday.
Formation - Negative Statements & Questions
Negative statements in the future continuous tense are formed using the modal verb -will followed by the adverb - not, the infinitive form of the verb -be, and the present participle of a dynamic verb, modal verbs are not conjugated depending on the subject and they have their own negation and question forms that do not require the verb -do. There is also a second way to form the future continuous tense in English with the structure "be not going to be + present participle of a dynamic verb", the first auxiliary verb -be in this phrase must agree with the subject, this structure is used more in conversation and is generally more informal. The structure "will not be + present participle of a dynamic verb" is generally more appropriate when expressing facts while the structure "be not going to be + present participle of a dynamic verb" is more appropriate when expressing decisions and intentions. Questions are formed by placing the modal verb -will before the subject followed by the adverb -not, the infinitive form of the verb -be, and the present participle of a dynamic verb, alternatively questions may be formed with the phrase "be not going to be" in which case the verb -be is placed before the subject followed by "not going to be + present participle of a dynamic verb". Negative questions are meant to express surprise, confirm information, or encourage agreement.
Will
Structure used to form negative statements in the future continuous
Subject + will not be + present participle of a dynamic verb
Structure used to form negative questions in the future continuous
Will + subject + not be + present participle of a dynamic verb?
Examples:
Ex: I will not be wasting any more time on Facebook.
Ex: Won't they be taking a trip to Europe this year?
Ex: Sarah won't be attending the meeting with us.
Ex: We will not be paying for Amazon Prime anymore.
Be going to
Structure used to form negative statements in the future continuous
Subject + am / is / are + not going to be + present participle of a dynamic verb
Structure used to form negative questions in the future continuous
Am / Is / Are + subject + not going to be + present participle of a dynamic verb?
Examples:
Ex: I'm not going to be driving anywhere this weekend.
Ex: Charles isn't going to be cleaning his garage until next week.
Ex: Aren't they going to be playing tennis with us?
Ex: We aren't going to be watching any movies during our vacation.
Note: There is no difference in meaning between the contractions and alternate contractions.
Note: Negative questions are usually asked with contractions especially in spoken English.
Note: Negative questions are usually asked with contractions especially in spoken English.
Note: This is not a complete list of all future time expressions, however it includes many of the most common expressions.
Note: Native English speakers often say "gonna" instead of "going to", this is very informal and grammatically incorrect.
Note: Native English speakers often say "ain't" as a contraction of "am not, is not, or are not", this is very informal and gramatically incorrect .
Note: Native English speakers often say "gonna" instead of "going to", this is very informal and grammatically incorrect.
Future Continuous uses
To describe actions that will be in progress in the future
Will
Examples
Ex: I will be sailing to the Caribbean next month.
Ex: It'll be raining all week.
Ex: Won't you be vacationing in Thailand this summer?
Ex: Mark will be working on school projects.
Ex: We will not be fishing this coming Saturday.
Ex: Will they be visiting their family tomorrow?
Ex: I'll be writing emails all day.
Ex: The company will be hosting an event in October.
Be going to
Examples
Ex: I am going to be sailing to the Caribbean next month.
Ex: It's going to be raining all week.
Ex: Aren't you going to be vacationing in Thailand this summer?
Ex: Mark is going to be working on school projects.
Ex: We're not going to be fishing this coming Saturday.
Ex: Are they going to be visiting their family tomorrow?
Ex: I'm going to be writing emails all day.
Ex: The company is going to be hosting an event in October.
To describe actions that will be ongoing at exact times in the future
Note: Actions described in the future continuous tense at exact times start before the exact time mentioned and continue at the exact time mentioned, in comparison actions described at exact times in the simple future tense begin at the exact time mentioned.
Note: Negative statements cannot be used to express this context, although questions can.
Will
Examples
Ex: At 7pm, I will be finishing my assignment.
Ex: They'll still be flying to New York by noon.
Ex: Will you be getting ready in 2 hours?
Ex: At dawn he'll be arriving home.
Ex: Everyone will be celebrating at midnight.
Ex: Won't they be shopping at the mall an hour from now?
Ex: People will be returning home from the event at 12pm.
Ex: I'll be driving to Florida at 5.
Be going to
Examples
Ex: At 7pm, I am going to be finishing my assignment.
Ex: They're still going to be flying to New York by noon.
Ex: Are you going to be getting ready in 2 hours?
Ex: At dawn, he's going to be arriving home.
Ex: Everyone is going to be celebrating at midnight.
Ex: Aren't they going to be shopping at the mall an hour from now?
Ex: People are going to be returning home from the event at 12pm.
Ex: I'm going to be driving to Florida at 5.
To describe situations that are temporary or new
Will
Examples - Temporary situations
Ex: I'll be taking public transportation next week, my car is in the shop.
Ex: He'll be staying with family for some time.
Ex: Charles will be showing his friends from out of town around the city while they are here.
Ex: Will the city be closing the highway for repairs the next few days?
Examples - New situations
Ex: Beginning next week, we'll be cooking all our meals.
Ex: They'll be starting work at 7am from now on.
Ex: Won't she be going to Stonybrook University next year?
Ex: The new law will be restricting imports starting tomorrow.
Be going to
Examples - Temporary situations
Ex: I'm going to be taking public transportation next week, my car is in the shop.
Ex: He's going to be staying with family for some time.
Ex: Charles is going to be showing his friends from out of town around the city.
Ex: Is the city going to be closing the highway for repairs the next few days?
Examples - New situations
Ex: Beginning next week, we're going to be cooking all our meals.
Ex: They're going to be starting work at 7am from now on.
Ex: Isn't she going to be going to Stonybrook University next year?
Ex: The new law is going to be restricting imports starting tomorrow.
To talk about simultaneous actions in the future
Note: We need to mention a second action to express this context.
Will
Examples
Ex: I'll be painting my room when you get home.
Ex: While her husband is away, she'll be taking care of their son alone.
Ex: We will be barbecuing and swimming at the beach this weekend.
Ex: Won't you be setting up the decorations when they arrive?
Ex: As the sauce is cooking, Mark will be preparing the pizza dough.
Ex: Will they be watching the fireworks when we set them off?
Ex: The hurricane will be flooding the streets and uprooting trees in it's path.
Ex: The game will be finishing by the time you get here.
Be going to
Examples
Ex: I'm going to be painting my room when you get home.
Ex: While her husband is away, she's going to be taking care of their son alone.
Ex: We are going to be barbecuing and swimming at the beach this weekend.
Ex: Aren't you going to be setting up the decorations when they arrive?
Ex: As the sauce is cooking, Mark is going to be preparing the pizza dough.
Ex: Are they going to be watching the fireworks when we set them off?
Ex: The hurricane is going to be flooding the streets and uprooting trees in it's path.
Ex: The game is going to be finishing by the time you get here.
Future Continuous - When not to use
The future continuous tense should not be used with actions that are sudden and have short durations. Actions that start and finish quickly sound strange in the future continuous because it seems as if we did them repeatedly or that they will be ongoing actions when we describe them with this tense. In these cases we should use the simple future instead.
Examples
Ex: I will be answering the phone in a second. - incorrect
I will answer the phone in a second.
Ex: They will be giving you the package tomorrow . - incorrect
They will give you the package tomorrow.
Ex: Charles will be paying the bill on the 5th.- incorrect
Charles will pay the bill on the 5th.
Ex: She will be signing the contract after they finish speaking. - incorrect
She will sign the contract after they finish speaking.