FluencyLab

GrammarHub

B1+ Upper-intermediate
B1+ grammar contents
B1+Future

Future continuous and future perfect

Use the future continuous for an activity in progress or expected routine at a future time, and the future perfect for completion before a future point.

Overview

What this grammar does

Use the future continuous for an activity in progress or expected routine at a future time, and the future perfect for completion before a future point.

Form and rules

How it works

1

Form the future continuous with will be + -ing and use it for an action in progress at a future moment.

2

Future continuous can also describe an expected course of events and can make questions about plans sound less direct.

3

Form the future perfect with will have + past participle for something completed before a future deadline or reference point.

4

By + future time often signals future perfect, but always check whether the meaning is completion rather than activity in progress.

5

For duration continuing up to a future point, future perfect simple may describe a state while future perfect continuous can emphasize an ongoing activity.

A closer look

Meaning and use

By + future time often signals future perfect, but always check whether the meaning is completion rather than activity in progress.

For duration continuing up to a future point, future perfect simple may describe a state while future perfect continuous can emphasize an ongoing activity.

Examples

See the pattern in complete sentences

This time tomorrow, I'll be flying to Madrid.

I'll be meeting the client anyway, so I can ask.

By Friday, we'll have finished the first stage.

She'll have left by the time you get there.

Will you be using the meeting room at three?

Common mistakes

What to avoid

At 8 p.m. tonight, I will have had dinner with the team.
At 8 p.m. tonight, I will be having dinner with the team.

The activity will be in progress at a specific future time, so use the future continuous.

By the end of the month, we will be completing the project.
By the end of the month, we will have completed the project.

By the end of the month sets a future deadline before which the project will be complete, so use the future perfect.

Ready to practise?

The test combines multiple choice, gap completion, error correction, and sentence building so students have to recognise and produce the grammar, not simply reread the rule.