Unlocking the English Tenses lesson 10: Future Progressive
Michael Reidy
Head of English Instruction at P&R Languages: customised language courses, copyediting, Business/Legal/General English
The Future Continuous (subject + will be + ing)
Welcome back language learners!
The future continuous is used to describe a future action that will be taking place at a certain time. For example, if someone is asking to call you in the evening, but you know you will be busy at that time, you could say:
“Don’t call me at 18:00, because I’ll be eating dinner then.”
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We can also use the future progressive in the following situations:
1. To describe a planned future event
I’ll be attending a conference in Hamburg in May.
Your flight will be departing at 16:00
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2. To describe the duration of a future event
I’ll be staying there for about a week.
Don will be doing a training session from 17:00 – 18:30 tomorrow.
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3. To describe something that will be in progress at a certain time in the future
Sorry, I can’t meet you at 12:00 because I’ll be studying.
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Structure (example sentence: I will be having dinner then.)
Positive form (+)
I will be having dinner then
You will be having dinner then
He will be having dinner then
She will be having dinner then
It will be having dinner then
Harry will be having dinner then
Paul and Susan will be having dinner then bus
We will be having dinner then
They will be having dinner then
You (plural) will be having dinner then
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Negative Form
I will not be having dinner then
You will not be having dinner then
He will not be having dinner then
She will not be having dinner then
It will not be having dinner then
Harry will not be having dinner then
Paul and Susan will not be having dinner then
We will not be having dinner then
They will not be having dinner then
You (plural) will not be having dinner then
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Interrogative form
Will I be having dinner then?
Will you be having dinner then?
Will he be having dinner then?
Will she be having dinner then?
Will it be having dinner then?
Will Harry be having dinner then?
Will Paul and Susan be having dinner then?
Will we be having dinner then?
Will they be having dinner then?
Will you (plural) be having dinner then?
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As practice, think about your schedule for the rest of the day and try to vocalize it using the future progressive:
At 13:00 I will be eating lunch
At 16:00 I will be travelling home from work
At 17:05 I will be taking off my shoes
At 17:15 I will be sitting on the couch…
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We hope you found this post useful, and stay tuned for next week’s lesson where we will have a look at the future simple!