Future continuous & Future perfect

Read the grammar explanation and do the exercise.

The ​future continuous​ (will be + ‘ing’ form) and the ​future perfect​ (will have + past
participle) tenses are used to talk about events in the future.

Future continuous

● Don’t ring at 8 o’clock. I’ll be watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

● This time tomorrow we’ll be sitting on the beach. I can’t wait!

We use the future continuous to talk about something that will be in progress at or around a
time in the future.

● Don’t phone grandma now, she’ll be having dinner.

● The kids are very quiet. They’ll be doing something wrong, I know it!

These sentences are not about the future but we can use the future continuous to talk about
what we ​assume ​is happening at the moment.

Future Perfect

● Do you think you will have finished it by next Thursday?

● In 5 years time I’ll have finished university and I’ll be able to earn some money at last.

We use the future perfect to say that something will be finished by a particular time in the
future.

We often use the future perfect with ‘​by​’ or ‘​in​’

● I think astronauts will have landed on Mars by the year 2020.

● I’ll have finished in an hour and then you can use the computer.

‘​By​’ means ‘​not later than a particular time’​ and ‘​in​’ means '​within a period of time​’. We don’t
know exactly when something will finish.

● I promise I’ll have done all the work by next Saturday.

We don’t know ​exactly ​when he will finish the work – maybe Thursday, maybe Friday – but
definitely before Saturday.
 Future Perfect
Make the future perfect.
Choose positive, negative or question.
1. (I / leave by six)
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2. (you / finish the report by the deadline?)
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3. (when / we / do everything?)
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4. (she / finish her exams by then, so we can go out for dinner)
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5. (you / read the book before the next class)
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6. (she / not / finish work by seven)
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7. (when / you / complete the work?
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8. (they / arrive by dinnertime)
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9. (we / be in London for three years next week)
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10. (she / get home by lunchtime?)
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11. (they / not / go at six)
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12. (you / do everything by seven?)
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13. (we / not / eat before we come, so we’ll be hungry)
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14. (he / finish his exams when we go on holiday?)
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15. (we / arrive by the time it gets dark?)
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16. (how long / you / know your boyfriend when you get married?)
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17. (he / not / complete the project by July)
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18. (I / not / finish the essay before the weekend)
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19. (why / she / finish the cleaning by six?)
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20. (how long / you / be in this company when you retire?)
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Answers:
1. I will have left by six.
2. Will you have finished the report by the deadline?
3. When will we have done everything?
4. She will have finished her exams by then, so we can go out for dinner.
5. You will have read the book before the next class.
6. She won’t have finished work by seven.
7. When will you have completed the work?
8. They will have arrived by dinnertime.
9. We will have been in London for three years next week.
10. Will she have got home by lunchtime?
11. They won’t have gone at six.
12. Will you have done everything by seven?
13. We won’t have eaten before we come, so we’ll be hungry.
14. Will he have finished her exams when we go on holiday?
15. Will we have arrived by the time it gets dark?
16. How long will you have known your boyfriend when you get married?
17. He won’t have completed the project by July.
18. I won’t have finished the essay before the weekend.
19. Why will she have finished the cleaning by six?
20. How long will you have been in this company when you retire?