Future continuous

Uses

USE 1 Interrupted Action in the Future

Use the Future Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the future will be interrupted by a shorter action in the future. Remember this can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time.

Examples:

• I will be watching TV when she arrives tonight.
• I will be waiting for you when your bus arrives.
• I am going to be staying at the Madison Hotel, if anything happens and you need to contact me.
• He will be studying at the library tonight, so he will not see Jennifer when she arrives.

Notice in the examples above that the interruptions (marked in italics) are in Simple Present rather than Simple Future. This is because the interruptions are in time clauses, and you cannot use future tenses in time clauses.

USE 2 Specific Time as an Interruption in the Future

In USE 1, described above, the Future Continuous is interrupted by a short action in the future. In addition to using short actions as interruptions, you can also use a specific time as an interruption.

Examples:

• Tonight at 6 PM, I am going to be eating dinner.
  I will be in the process of eating dinner.
• At midnight tonight, we will still be driving through the desert.
  We will be in the process of driving through the desert.

REMEMBER

In the Simple Future, a specific time is used to show the time an action will begin or end. In the Future Continuous, a specific time interrupts the action.

Examples:

• Tonight at 6 PM, I am going to eat dinner.
  I am going to start eating at 6 PM.
• Tonight at 6 PM, I am going to be eating dinner.
  I am going to start earlier and I will be in the process of eating dinner at 6 PM.

USE 3 Parallel Actions in the Future

When you use the Future Continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it expresses the idea that both actions will be happening at the same time. The actions are parallel.

Examples:

• I am going to be studying and he is going to be making dinner.
• Tonight, they will be eating dinner, discussing their plans, and having a good time.
• While Ellen is reading, Tim will be watching television.
  Notice "is reading" because of the time clause containing "while." (See Explanation Below)

USE 4 Atmosphere in the Future

In English, we often use a series of Parallel Actions to describe atmosphere at a specific point in the future.

Example:

• When I arrive at the party, everybody is going to be celebrating. Some will be dancing. Others are going to be talking. A few peoplewill be eating pizza, and several people are going to be drinking beer. They always do the same thing.

REMEMBER No Future in Time Clauses

Like all future tenses, the Future Continuous cannot be used in clauses beginning with time expressions such as: when, while, before, after, by the time, as soon as, if, unless, etc. Instead of Future Continuous, Present Continuous is used.

Examples:

• While I am going to be finishing my homework, she is going to make dinner. Not Correct
• While I am finishing my homework, she is going to make dinner. Correct

Structure

THIS VIDEO WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THIS TOPIC BETTER

Click here to do some exercises  - remember to check the punctuation before you submit the test.