Future continuous & future perfect

B1 41 / 50

In short

Use the future continuous (will be + -ing) for an action that will be in progress at a future moment, and the future perfect (will have + past participle) for an action that will be finished before a future point.

The rule

These three forms let you look at the future from a more precise angle than a simple will.

Form	Structure	Meaning
Future continuous	`will be + verb-ing`	In progress at a future time: This time tomorrow I’ll be flying* to Tokyo.*
Future perfect	`will have + past participle`	Finished before a future point: By 2030 they will have finished* the bridge.*
Future perfect continuous	`will have been + verb-ing`	Duration up to a future point: In June I’ll have been working* here for ten years.*

A second, very common use of the future continuous is for a future event seen as part of the normal course of events - something that will happen anyway, with no special plan or decision behind it: I’ll be seeing her at the meeting anyway, so I can pass on the message.

The future perfect answers the question “Will it be done by then?” - we look back at it from a point further in the future. The future perfect continuous stresses how long the activity has been going on up to that point.

These forms build on will (lesson 19), the continuous (lesson 8) and the perfect (lesson 25). Treat them as upper-B1 / B2.

Forms & patterns

	Future continuous	Future perfect	Future perfect continuous
+	I’ll be working	I’ll have worked	I’ll have been working
-	I won’t be working	I won’t have worked	I won’t have been working
?	Will you be working?	Will you have worked?	Will you have been working?

Time markers that signal these forms:

Marker	Typical form	Example
`by` + time	future perfect	I’ll have read it by Friday.
`by the time` + clause	future perfect	By the time you arrive, we’ll have eaten.
`in` + period	future perfect (cont.)	In two years I’ll have saved enough.
`this time next week/year`	future continuous	This time next week I’ll be lying on a beach.
`for` + duration	future perfect continuous	I’ll have been studying English for* five years.*

Note: the form does not change after by the time / when / before - use a present tense in that clause, not will: By the time you get here…, before the shop closes…

Examples

English	Note
At 9 o’clock tonight we will be watching the final.	In progress at that exact future moment.
Will you be using the car tomorrow?	Asking about something already planned, no pressure.
Don’t call at six - I’ll be driving home then.	Action in progress, so the person won’t be free.
By next summer they will have built the new station.	Completed before that future point.
By the time the film ends, the kids will have fallen asleep.	Finished before the other future event.
In December she will have lived abroad for a decade.	Looking back from a future point at a completed span.
Next month I will have been teaching for twenty years.	Duration of an ongoing activity up to a future point.
I’ll be seeing Tom later, so I’ll ask him then.	Routine future event, part of the normal course of things.

Common mistakes

By Friday I will read it. -> By Friday I will have read it. - by + a future point needs the future perfect, not simple will.
This time tomorrow I will fly to Rome. -> This time tomorrow I will be flying to Rome. - an action in progress at a future moment takes the continuous.
In June I will work here for ten years. -> In June I will have been working here for ten years. - duration up to a future point needs will have been + -ing.
By the time you will arrive, we’ll have left. -> By the time you arrive, we’ll have left. - use a present tense in the time clause after by the time, before, when, never will.
I will have finish it. -> I will have finished it. - the future perfect uses the past participle, not the base form.

Tips

See by (a deadline) -> think future perfect: “done before then”.
See a clock time or this time tomorrow -> think future continuous: “in the middle of it then”.
will be -ing can sound more polite/neutral than will: Will you be joining us? asks about plans without pushing.
After a time conjunction - when, by the time, as soon as, before, until - drop the will and use the present: When you finish, call me.