Unit 4.1
Future Perfect Continuous
Print This Post
Advertising
Introduction
Future perfect continuous is the tense used to talk about a continuous action that will be completed at some point in the future. It is often used with time expressions.
Form
Future perfect continuous has these three forms: affirmative, negative and interrogative.
Affirmative
Its structure, in the affirmative form, is:
Subject + will + have + been + [verb + -ing] + …
| SUBJECT | FUTURE SIMPLE | AUXILIARY VERB | BEEN | PRESENT PARTICIPLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I/You/He/She/It/We/You/They | will | have | been | walking |
Negative
Its full structure, in the negative form, is:
Subject + will not + have + been + [verb + -ing] + …
Negative short form is won’t:
Subject + won’t + have + been + [verb + -ing] + …
| SUBJECT | FUTURE SIMPLE + NOT | AUXILIARY VERB | BEEN | PRESENT PARTICIPLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I/You/He/She/It/We/You/They | will not/ won’t |
have | been | walking |
Interrogative
Its structure, in the interrogative form, is:
Will + Subject + have + been + [verb + -ing] + …?
| FUTURE SIMPLE | SUBJECT | AUXILIARY VERB | BEEN | PRESENT PARTICIPLE | QUESTION MARK |
| Will | I/You/He/She/It/We/You/They | have | been | walking | …? |
Example
- I won’t have been investing in architecture by the end of 2020.
- The company will have been already trading for 2 weeks after the new manager’s arrival.
- After the new manager arrival, the company still won’t have been trading.
- Will the company have been trading for 2 weeks after the new manager arrival?
- They will have been negotiating for 3 years this summer.
Use
We use future perfect continuous to talk about a continuous action that will be completed at some point in the future.
We can use time expressions such as for two minutes, for 5 years, since Saturday…
We can also use future perfect continuous to show the relation of cause and effect.
Summary
We use future perfect continuous to talk about a continuous action that will be completed at some point in the future and to show the relation of cause and effect.
We can use it in its different forms:
- affirmative: we start with the subject followed by will have been and a verb that ends with -ing;
- negative: we start with the subject followed by will not have been and a verb that ends with -ing;
- interrogative: we start with will followed by the subject followed by have been and the a verb that ends with -ing (the sentence ends with a question mark).
We can use time expressions such as: for 5 years, since Saturday…
For example:
— affirmative: “I will have been working with you for 3 years next week.”
— negative: “I will not have been working with you for 3 years next week.”
— interrogative: “Will I have been working with you for 3 years next week?”
We use the future perfect continuous because the action of working for 3 years will (or will not) be completed in the future, meaning next week.
♦ “I will be working next week.” = We use the future continuous because we assume that this event will be taking place in the future.
♦ “I will work next week.” = We use the future simple because we express a future intention.
Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.
Exercises
Content Rating
Please, tell us how to improve the content here.
What did you think of our explanations and exercises?
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...Ambassadors
Open TextBooks are collaborative projects, with people from all over the world bringing their skills and interests to join in the compilation and dissemination of knowledge to everyone and everywhere.
Become an Ambassador and write your textbooks.
Online Teaching
Become a Books4Languages Online tutor & teacher.
More information here about how to be a tutor.
