English gives you the power to describe an action unfolding at a specific moment in the future—this is where future continuous tense comes into play. In addition to adding details, it adds depth to conversations.
Thus, you sound fluent naturally. Curious how it works? We’ll break it down in the simplest ways possible.
Overview
Imagine it’s 8 p.m. tomorrow, and your mother is in the middle of baking a nice carrot cake. Instead of simply saying, “She will bake a cake,” you’d say, “She will be baking a carrot cake,” to indicate that the activity will be taking place at that specific time.
This tense helps create a clearer image of what’s happening at a specific time in the future. Thus, understanding the definition of future continuous tense is key to building your sentences more natural yet dynamic. It’s possible to express future actions with more depth and clarity too—without redundancy.
Rules and Structures
To structure this tense correctly, you’ll need the future continuous formula. Here is the future continuous tense formula:
Subject + will be + verb (-ing)
The structure applies to all types of sentences. However, the word order changes slightly depending on the sentence type. To make a sentence negative, simply add “not” before “be”.
For questions, switch the order of “will” and the subject, and don’t forget the question mark. Let’s take a look at these future continuous tense examples.
- Diana will be enjoying the concert by 4 pm tomorrow.
- Diana is afraid she won’t be joining you for dinner tonight.
- Will Diana still be working here next year?
- By the time Danie gets home, the turtle will be sleeping down under its cave.
- When we arrive at the meeting, her presentation won’t be presented yet—they’ll still be listening to another pitch.
- Will you be needing help with your luggage?
Exceptions of Using Future Continuous Tense
Now that you’ve grasped the future continuous tense rules, let’s talk about when not to use them. This tense is great for describing actions in progress at a specific time. However, there are a few cases where it doesn’t quite fit.
1. Not for Spontaneous Decisions
If you decide on something on the spot, “will” or future simple works better instead of future continuous. It’s due to the latter being for planned or expected actions, instead something quick yet impulsive.
- I will be getting a ticket now. (wrong)
- I will get the tickets now. (correct)
2. Certain Time Expressions Don’t Fit
Some expressions work better with future perfect tense, particularly when an action is expected to be fully completed by a specific time. However, if the action is still in progress at that moment, then future continuous applies instead.
- Alex will be completing the proposal by the end of the week. (wrong)
- Alex will have completed the proposal by the end of the week. (correct)
3. Doesn’t Work with a Fixed Schedule
Official schedules, programmed plans, timetabled events—all of these work better with present simple. There’s no need to describe it as “in progress” since the vent is already set in stone.
- The train will be departing at 8 p.m. tonight. (wrong)
- The train departs at 8 p.m. tonight. (correct)
4. Stative Verbs
Certain verbs that indicate states, emotions, possession, or senses don’t fit well with the structure. Instead of describing conditions, those verbs indicate active processes. Thus, words like know, want, believe, love, own, and hear are rarely used in this tense.
- The student will be understanding the instructions soon. (wrong)
- The student will understand the instruction soon. (correct)
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