The Future Continuous tense is relevant to actions that are not finished and will be continuing on into the future. Specifically, it can be used for talking about what we will be doing into the future or to guess about the future. It has two different forms: “will be doing ” and “going to be doing”. The form of this tense is Subject + Will be + Infinitive + Ing or Subject + To be + going to be + Infinitive + Ing.
Let’s take a look at some examples:
First person | Notes |
I will be reading a book. | These are actions that we believe will be continuing into the future. |
Tonight, we are going to be eating dinner. | |
By 9 pm, we will be eating dinner. | These are guesses about what will be happening in the future. |
By next year, I will be studying economics. |
The difference between “will be doing ” and “going to be doing” is simple. “Will be doing” that you will start an action at a specific time or place. “Going to be doing” means that you will be in the process of doing that action. Let’s look at a clear difference in the following two sentences:
I will be walking home at 5 pm.
I am going to be walking home at 5 pm.
In the first sentence, I will be walking home at 5 pm, our character means he start walking at 5 pm. In the second sentence, I am going to be walking home at 5 pm, he means he will be walking by 5 pm.
You can ask questions with the future continuous tense by using “will” for all the pronouns. For example: Will he be coming? Will they be coming?
You can add “not” after the pronoun after “will” to make a negative statement. For example: Will they not be coming? Will she not be working?
You can abbreviate “will not” to “won’t”. For example: Won’t he be coming?
Let’s do some exercises with what we have learned already. Place the appropriate future continuous word in the gaps and make sure to include “will” and “going to”: go, feel, attend, plant, compete, celebrate, travel, backpack, run, work, learn, study.
- I ________ History in France for the next 2 years.
- He __________ to the gym every day from now on.
- She __________ a seminar on science tomorrow.
- Lisa __________ her birthday on Saturday.
- Johnny __________ to Poland in the summer.
- I ___________ across South East Asia for 3 months.
- In a few months, I __________ in a very important competition.
- She ___________ roses in her garden.
- I think I _________ in the next marathon.
- We have been working together for months now and I think we ___________ together for the long term.
- I don’t think I ___________ well I eat that much.
- I ____________ how to a ride a horse from next week onward.