Future continuous and future perfect

Future continuous: Grammar chart

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Future continuous: Use

Actions in progress in the future

We use the future continuous to talk about situations or actions that will be in progress at a certain time in the future.

• This time next week, we‘ll be travelling to Paris. 
• Tomorrow at 10, you‘ll be doing your exam. 
• When you get off the train, I‘ll be waiting on the platform. 
• In two months’ time, we‘ll be lying on the beach and drinking a mojito. 

Future arrangements (=present continuous)

We use the future continuous instead of the present continuous to talk about future events that have already been planned or decided.

• We’ll be coming next weekend.
• We’ll be leaving at 8 a.m. tomorrow.

Future continuous: Signal words

As you can see in the examples above, we often use the future continuous with time expressions such as:

• This time … (this time tomorrow, this time next week, etc.)
• When …
• At + time … (at seven tomorrow, at midday next Monday, etc.)
• In … (in two weeks, in three months, in five years, etc.)
• In …’ time (in two weeks’ time, in three months’ time, in five years’ time, etc.)

Future perfect: Grammar chart

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Future perfect – Use

Actions finished in the future

We use the future perfect for actions that will be finished before a certain time in the future.

• By 2050, researchers will have found a cure for cancer.
• By this time next year, I’ll have graduated.
• When you arrive tomorrow, we’ll have left.

Duration until some time in the future

We use the future perfect to talk about the duration of a situation until a certain time in the future.

• By the time I leave, I will have been in England for six months.
• In two years, we will have been married for twenty years.

Future perfect: signal words

As you can see in the examples above, we often use the future perfect with time expressions such as:

• By … (by tomorrow, by next week, by the end of the year, etc.)
• By this time … (by this time tomorrow, by this time next week, etc.)
• In … (in two weeks, in five years, etc.)
• When/Before …

By + time expression means ‘not later than’, ‘at’ or ‘before’ certain time.