Future Continuous Tense

Lesson 8 - Future Continuous Tense

I will be She will not be Are you going What will you be
having dinner enjoying her to be playing doing at 10pm
when the film vacations. football? tonight?
starts.

More examples:
• Tom will be attending the conference next month.
• I'll be going to be working late at the office tonight.
• She’ll be playing tennis until she gets tired.
• Will you be going to the next meeting in December?

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Lesson 8 - Future Continuous Tense
The Future Continuous tense is often used in English as a way to talk about
something happening at a given point in the future.

subject + auxiliary + auxillary main verb

verb WILL verb BE
invariable invariable
will be present participle

subject auxillar + auxillary + main verb

y verb verb BE
BE

I am invariable
She / He /It is
going to
You / We / are be present participle
They

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Lesson 8 - Future Continuous Tense

We use the Future Continuous Tense to talk about:

1. an activity that will occur in the future and continue for a certain period of
time:
• I'll be working late at the office tonight.
• We'll be flying over the Atlantic Ocean for three hours.
2. an activity that will continue over a period of time from now into the future :
• She'll be playing tennis until she gets tired.
• Susan will be waiting for the bus 10 more minutes.
3. a longer action in the future will be interrupted by a shorter action in the
future :
• I'll be making dinner when he arrives tonight
• She'll be playing the piano when her parents come home.
4. to talk about things that we expect to happen in the usual course of events :
• I will be seeing Ann tomorrow at the office. (we work together)
• We will be meeting Mike at the festival this weekend.
5. for predictions or expected trends in the future :
• By 2030, most people in Africa will be living in urban areas.

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Lesson 8 - Future Continuous Tense
The positive (will + be + verb-ing)
auxiliary auxiliary
subject + verb + verb main verb + rest of the sentence
WILL BE
He/ She/ It
TV when she arrives
I /We / You/ will be watching
tonight.
They
auxiliary
auxiliary
verb main
subject + verb + + rest of the sentence
BE verb
BE

I am
TV when she arrives
He/ She/It is going to be watching
tonight.
You/We/They are

More examples: • I will be waiting for you when your bus arrives.
• Tonight at 6 PM, I am going to be eating dinner.
• While Ellen is reading, Tim will be watching television.

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Lesson 8 - Future Continuous Tense
Fill in the blanks with the correct form of verbs.
1. Tomorrow morning we (work) _________ .
2. This time next week we (have) _________ a party.
3. At midnight I (sleep) _________ .
4. This evening we (watch) _________ a talk show.
5. They (do) _________ their homework this afternoon.
6. He (listen) _________ to music.
7. I (read) _________ a book this evening.
8. At 6 o'clock on Friday they (sing) _________ the new song.
9. This time next week he (fly) _________ to South Africa.
10. My friend (study) _________ for the TOEFL exam over her summer vacation.
11. I (travel) _________ with my brother through Europe because I don't have
enough money.
12. We (writing) _________ essays all semester for English 2. It is going to be a
lot of work.
13. I (take) _________ English 2 next semester.
14. When you come tonight, our group (practice) _________ for our class
presentation.
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Lesson 8 - Future Continuous Tense
When we use the Future Continuous tense in speaking, we
often contract the subject and WILL:
I’ll be watching TV when she arrives.

He’ll be watching TV when she arrives.

We’ll be watching TV when she arrives.

Make positive future continuous sentences. Use contractions.

1. (at midnight/we/sleep)
2. (this time next week/we/sit at the beach)
3. (at night/I/watch the news)
4. (they/cram up/for our English test tonight)
5. (we/dance/all night)
6. (I think/they/fight/again)
7. (he/play/all afternoon)
8. (she/work/for a few minutes more)
9. (I/eat lunch/at noon)
10. (it/rain/ when you return)

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Lesson 8 - Future Continuous Tense
For negative sentences we insert not between the auxiliary verb and the main verb.

auxiliary auxiliary
subject + verb + + verb main verb + rest of the sentence
WILL BE
He/ She/ It TV when she arrives
will NOT be watching
I /We / You/ They tonight.
• You will not be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.
More examples: • She will not be studying at home this weekend.

In negative sentences, we may contract the auxiliary verb and "not":

• You won’t be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.
More examples:
• She won’t be studying at home this weekend

For question sentences, we exchange the subject and the auxiliary verb will.

auxiliary
+ subject + main verb + rest of the sentence
verb
He/ She/ It
Why will be studying tonight?
I /We / You/ They

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Lesson 8 - Future Continuous Tense

Make negative future continuous sentences. Use contractions.

1. They (invite, not) _______ anyone to the party this year.

2. Jack and Jill (go, not) ________ up the hill.
3. Max (ride, not) ________ his bicycle.
4. You (drink, not) ________ any coffee.
5. Max (do, not) ________ his homework.
6. She (chew, not) ________ gum in the back of the room.
7. He (jog, not) ________ in the park tomorrow morning.
8. They (study, not) ________ mathematics tonight.
9. Max (live, not) ________ in New York next year.
10.We (take, not) ________ the test tomorrow.
11.Joe (paint, not) _______ the house tomorrow.
12.We (sleep, not) ________ tonight.
13.Marvin (dance, not) ________ at the party.

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Lesson 8 - Future Continuous Tense

Make yes or no and WH questions using the words and phrases below.
1. (the children / play / where)
2. (Max / do for a living / what)
3. (you/watch movie/this weekend)
4. (you / wait / where)
5. (I/do/before the class/what)
6. (you / do that / how)
7. (eat/lunch/what time)
8. (Jenny/not take/the bus today/ why)
9. (John/meet/Lucy/before they work together)
10.(Andy/celebrate/her birthday/where)
11.(the students/take/the test)
12.(she/stay/in the province for vacation)
13.(we/visit/our parents in Christmas season)
14.(you/wash/your clothes tomorrow)
15.(the school/hold/its annual Foundation Day/when)

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Lesson 8 - Future Continuous Tense

Ask for the information in the bold part of the sentence.

1. We will be having a picnic on Thursday.
2. I will be flying to Canada for a business trip.
3. Jack will be dancing and Janna will be singing.
4. Marie will be taking up Psychology in college.
5. Anna will be doing her homework with her boyfriend.
6. He will be going on vacation after the company event.
7. John will be washing the dishes.
8. While Ellen is reading, Tim will be watching television.
9. Next fall, we will be enjoying all the vegetables we planted last
spring.
10.At 5 a.m. tomorrow, they will be departing Alaska.
11.I will be hitting the gym because my doctor advised me to.
12. Jane is going to be studying fashion designing in Italy.

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Lesson 8 - Future Continuous Tense
Past perfect or past perfect continuous?
1. Sandra: Where is Tim going to meet us?
Marcus: He (wait) _______ for us when our train arrives. I am sure he (stand) _______
on the platform when we pull into the station.
Sandra: And then what?
Marcus: We (pick) _______ Michele up at work and go out to dinner.
2. Ted: When we get to the party, Jerry (watch) _______ TV, Sam (make) _______ drinks,
Beth (dance) _______ by herself, and Thad (complain) _______ about his day at work.
Robin: Maybe, this time they won't be doing the same things.
Ted: I am absolutely positive they (do) _______ the same things; they always do the same
things.
3. Samantha: Just think, next week at this time, I (lie) _______ on a tropical beach in Maui
drinking Mai Tais and eating pineapple.
Darren: While you are luxuriating on the beach, I (stress) _______ out over this marketing
project. How are you going to enjoy yourself knowing that I am working so hard?
Samantha: I 'll manage somehow.
Darren: You're terrible. Can't you take me with you?
Samantha: No. But I (send) _______ you a postcard of a beautiful, white sand beach.
Darren: Great, that (make) _______ me feel much better.
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Lesson 8 - Future Continuous Tense
Look at these example sentences with the Future Continuous Tense:

auxiliary auxiliary
rest of the
subject verb verb main verb
sentence
WILL BE

He/ She/ It
I /We / will
You/ They not
TV when she
be
He/ She/ watching arrives
It tonight. / ?
Will I /We /
Why You/
They

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The End