Education Future Continuous. Affirmative sentences Future Continuous Tense

Future tenses in English language have one common verb - will, which makes it easier to perceive, study and use this group of tenses. Future Continuous is no exception. In English, the name of the Future Continuous tense speaks for itself - it is mix and . Let's look at the structure and use of the English Future Continuous using many examples with translation into Russian.

Future Continuous. Examples:

I will be signing the contract tomorrow at 10 a.m. Tomorrow at 10 am I will sign the contract.

? Will she be having dinner when I come back home? Will she be having dinner when I get back?

- No will not be preparing for his examination in June. He will not study for the exam in June.

Marker words for the Future Continuous

(read more about marker words in the article):

at 5 o'clock(at five o'clock), at noon(at noon), at midnight(at midnight), at that moment(at that moment), all day long(all day), all day tomorrow(all day tomorrow) all the time(all the time), the whole evening(all evening), from six till seven(from six to seven), while(while).

THE FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE
(THE FUTURE PROGRESSIVE)

Future continuous tense

Affirmative form of Future Continuous
+

Question form Future Continuous
?

Wh-?
Special questions in Future Continuous

(start with special words)

Negative form
Future Continuous
—

Interrogative-negative form
Future Continuous
(Speaking)
?-

Schematically the structure of the sentence in Future Continuous can be shown like this:

+
S + will be Ving

?
Will + S + be Ving?

Wh - ?
Wh + will + S + be Ving?

–
S + won't + be Ving

? –
Won't + S + be Ving?

Such a scheme for time Future Continuous You can print it out and paste it in with others. notebook, For example. You will get a ready-made cheat sheet, where everything is short and concise.

Using the Future Continuous

English time Future Continuous used:

1. To indicate long lasting in the future that will occur at some point or time period in the future.

- This time tomorrow we 'll be lying on the beach. Tomorrow at this time we will be lying on the beach.

— She will still be having lunch at 2 p.m. At 2pm she will still be having lunch.

This is a long-term action in the future can be interrupted by another action, which can be either a truly physical interruption or a pause in time.

—We 'll be studying at the library when the teacher comes. We will study in the library when the teacher comes.

Important!

Please note that in subordinate clauses of time (when...), it is used (when the teacher COMES), and not (when the teacher will come).

2. To express parallel actions that will occur simultaneously in the future.

— While Kate is reading, Mike will be watching a cartoon. While Katya is reading, Mike will be watching a cartoon.

3. For expression intentions, assumptions or planned future events.

- No 'll be arriving at noon. He arrives at noon.

—We 'll be coming back from Greece on Tuesday. We will be returning from Greece on Tuesday.

— I’m sorry, I can’t come to your party as I 'll be working on that day. Sorry, I can't come to your party because I'll be working that day.

4. For polite questions - if you want to know about someone's intentions, should always be used Future Continuous, but not Future Simple. Using Future Simple, the speaker implies own wish, thus influencing the other's response. Using Future Continuous the question becomes more objective, devoid of pressure.

Will you come to the party? (= I want you to come to the party.) Will you come to the party?

Will you be coming to the party? (= I just want to know.) Will you come to the party?

What do we know about the future? There is only one thing we can say with complete confidence - it brings change. But we are talking today about the changes that Future Continuous time brings.

Future in English

All tenses in English are divided into three large groups: Present, Past and Future. Today the focus is on Future rules Continuous Tense or Future Continuous Tense. The name Future refers to a description of events that occur in the future. As for the term Continuous, this is an aspect indicating the duration of the action. Thus, adding the two components, we get next rule: temporary form Future Continuous describes a continuous action that occurs at a certain period of time in the future.

It should be noted that, despite the complexity of the construction, the Future Continuous tense is widely used in English. It transforms the speaker’s speech and often its use becomes an excellent alternative to two other tense forms that describe future events - Future Simple and Present Continuous.

Education

How is the Future Continuous tense formed? A grammatical structure, which consists of two parts, will help answer this question. In the first place are the auxiliary verbs of the future tense will/shall, in the second place is the construction of the Continuous aspect - to be + verb + -ing. From here the following formula is derived: Future Continuous: subjects + will/shall + be + verb + -ing. How it “works” in affirmative, negative and interrogative forms is discussed in the following table:

Cases of use

The tense form Future Continuous is used in speech in the following cases:

• When an action is described that will be performed at a certain period in the future. At the same time, attention is focused not on when it will begin and end, but on the fact that at this precisely indicated moment the action will proceed and last:

This time next week Brenda will be flying to Paris - At the same time next week Brenda will be flying to Paris.

At five o’clock tomorrow evening my family will be walking in the park - At five o’clock tomorrow evening my family will be walking in the park.

Please note that in this case, such words as Future Continuous indicators are used, such as this time next week/month/year - at this time next week/month/year, the same time next week - at the same time on next week, meanwhile (meanwhile, in the meanwhile) - in the meantime, from three till five - from three to five, during the evening - during the evening, for 6 hours - for six hours, all day long - all day, all the time - all the time, the whole year - the whole year.

• Instead of time markers indicating the exact time, another action expressed by a verb in the Present Simple can be used:

She will be baking her Christmas cake when they come - She will bake her Christmas cake when they come (instead of the exact time - the verb come)

• When talking about planned or imminent events in the near future:

According to the weather forecast it will be snowing the whole day tomorrow - According to the weather forecast, it will snow all day tomorrow.

Tome will be taking the exam tomorrow at five o’clock - Tom will take the exam tomorrow at five o’clock.

Study the topic Future Continuous follows, perhaps, the last in a series of times of the Continuous group. That is, if you have not yet learned the rules for the formation and use of tenses and, then it is better to do this before moving on to getting acquainted with the future continuous tense. If you are familiar with the other tenses of the Continuous group, you should thoroughly study the future continuous tense. Consider the following example:

As you can see from the example above, Mark will watch football for a whole period of time (from 8.30 to 10.15). And at any point in time within this period, he will perform the same action.

The Future Continuous is a projection of any of the Continuous tenses into the future: the action lasts at a certain point in time or over a period of time, but all this will happen in the future. Of course, situations when it is necessary to use the Future Continuous are far from common, since they require a specific context that meets the conditions: the duration of the action, the presence of an exact moment or period of time, and, which is especially rare in speech, the situation describes the future. Here are a few more examples illustrating the use of the Future Continuous in speech:

Thus, the Future Continuous is not one of the most common in English speech temporary forms, which, however, does not make its study optional, especially since the formation of this temporary form is very simple.

Affirmative sentence

So, how to form a predicate for affirmative proposal in Future Continuous? To do this, it is necessary to place before the form of the continuous infinitive (Infinitive Continuous) an auxiliary characteristic of the future tense - will:

will be Ving

Above is a universal scheme for the formation of a predicate affirmative sentence in the future continuous tense. Shall how an auxiliary verb can be used instead will with subject in first person (I, we), but its use is quite rare as it is considered obsolete and preferred in interrogative sentences.

Negative sentence

If the required sentence must be negative, that is, contain the particle not, this particle is attached to the verb will, which ultimately gives the short form won't (=will not).

Questions

Interrogative sentences in which the predicate is in the Future Continuous form are also easy to form. (in questions its use for the first person is not uncommon) take place before the subject, while the continuous infinitive (Infinitive Continuous) is placed after the subject. This basic diagram- scheme, by changing which you can form any type of question in the Future Continuous.

As can be seen from the examples, the short answer Yes/No also requires the use of will/won’t. The general question in the Future Continuous is often used to ask about the plans of the interlocutor at a certain point or period in the future, as in the examples given.

Special question adds a question word to the beginning of the above diagram, for example:

Question to the subject also contains a question word (Who/What) at the beginning of the sentence, but stands out as a separate type of question due to the absence of a subject in its composition, or rather, the role of the subject here is played by the question word Who/What:

Alternative question again returns us to the original scheme for the formation of a general question, but adds an alternative to the content of the question, that is, a choice, which is expressed by the union or (or):

Separated question, added to a sentence that does not contain negation, consists of verb form won't and the subject expressed by the appropriate personal pronoun, for example:

When expressing doubt about what is said in a negative sentence, the dividing question, on the contrary, accepts affirmative form: will and the subject expressed by a suitable personal pronoun, for example:

Use

The scope of the future continuous tense covers mainly long-term actions that will unfold in the future, that is, will be in the process, at a certain moment or period of time in the future. This is a rather narrow scope of application of the verb form. For example, let’s compare sentences in Future Continuous and Future Simple:

Now we will take a closer look at Future Continuous rules and construction examples. This time is also known as Future Progressive in another name. Let's also compare it with the Future Simple - a fact in the future tense. Example: Tomorrow I will fly to New York. In negation we put not: I will not eat it.
-
But Future Continuous answers the question whether the process will happen in the future or not and is built on this principle. Will you be doing your homework at 7? You will do yours homework at 7:00?

Comparison

As you probably know, the Future Simple is built according to the formula Will + V1 (a verb in the first form without endings) and denotes a fact. And Future Continuous – Will be + V (-ing) and this is a process of action.
Example: I will cook for you. (FS)
I will be cooking for you. (FC)

Types of offers

Negation of Future Continuous “I will not be cooking tomorrow”
In negation you can shorten the particle not: I won’t be swimming - I won’t swim. Here will not = won’t.
Negative question “Why will you not be flying to Alaska?”
-

More examples for understanding

Let's look at examples of sentences with translation for the Future Continuous - let's consolidate our knowledge.
She will be preparing the whole day tomorrow to meet us. She will be preparing all day to meet us tomorrow.
Tomorrow this time I will be learning English. Tomorrow at this time I will be learning English.
I will be sleeping from 3 till 5. I will sleep from 3 to 5. A certain period of time in the future is highlighted here.

Hint words

Let us give an example of the words pointers that tell us that the Future Continuous is used:
this time tomorrow - at this time tomorrow
all day long - all day
all day tomorrow - all day tomorrow
the whole day (morning/evening) – the whole day (morning/evening)
from 5 till 9 p.m. – from 5 to 9 pm

Take the test

When talking about the future, native speakers tend to make it easy to use time Simple groups or the construction to be going to. However, if you delve deeper into the study of the English language and its tenses, you will find greater diversity, expressed by the groups “continuus” and “perfect”. They are not at all inferior to their “colleagues”, but are used in exceptional cases to express certain situations. To understand these features better, let's look at how one of the mentioned tenses is formed and when it is used, namely the Future Continuous.

Future Continuous Tense or future continuous tense in English is a tense used to express actions that will happen at a certain point in the future. In other words, it is time that focuses on a process in the future, without paying attention to the beginning or expected completion of the action.

You can understand when to use the Future Continuous using special words or context. In both the first and second cases, this is not at all difficult to do, but let’s first dwell on the rules of education and the forms of this time.

Future Continuous Tense is formed using two verbs: auxiliary and semantic. The auxiliary verb is English verb to be in the future tense. Initially, it had two forms depending on the face:

Nowadays the shall be form is used quite rarely, so when forming this tense, always give preference to the will be form for a more natural sound.

The semantic verb form uses Participle I or the present participle. Such verbs are formed by the following formula: from the verb in the infinitive, to is removed and the ending –ing is added:

At first glance, with the addition of the ending, everything is very clear. However, there are certain words for which the rule above changes slightly:

• If a word ends in -e, that letter is dropped and -ing is added. For double –e, the standard rule applies. Let's compare:

• If a short verb ends in a consonant preceded by a vowel, the consonant is doubled and the ending –ing is added. The rule does not apply to words ending in –x and –w.

• Doubling –r depends on the presence or absence of a diphthong before it:

• If a word ends in –l in British English it is always doubled:

Future Continuous: sentence forms

Forming verbs alone is not enough; you need to understand how to use these verbs in various sentences.

Affirmative sentences Future Continuous

The affirmative form maintains direct word order, so in it both verbs as predicates come after the subject. Formula for clarity:

But problems can arise with the formula in the passive voice. The fact is that the passive voice for use in the Future Continuous tense is usually not used, because a number of verbs in such a sentence (for example, “will be being done”) sound at least strange.

Negative sentences Future Continuous

To form a negative form before the auxiliary the verb will add a negative particle not:

Both forms have shortened versions that are more common in speech:

The obsolete form shall in the first case of contraction is similar to the verb will, and in the second it looks like shan’t.

Future Continuous Interrogative Sentences

The interrogative form is built according to the type of question:

• IN general issues will is placed before the subject:

• IN alternative question a word for choice is added to the form, expressed by the second subject / predicate / minor member sentences, and the conjunction or (or).

• IN special issue the general form is preserved, but a question word is added before the auxiliary verb:

• The dividing question retains the affirmative and negative form followed by a short question:

Future Continuous: usage

Having studied how verbs of the future continuous tense are formed and how they should be used in various forms proposals, all that remains is to understand in what cases this time is used.

1. Future Continuous Tense is used when it is necessary to express an action that will last at a certain moment in the future. In such cases, sentences often contain temporary indicators:
   — at 5 o’clock (at 5 o’clock),
   - tonight at 9 (today at 9),
   - tomorrow at 4 in the morning (tomorrow at 4 am),
   - this time tomorrow / the day after tomorrow (at the same time tomorrow / the day after tomorrow),
   - this time next week / month / year (at the same time next week / month / year),
   - in a week / month / year (in a week / month / year),
   — in the morning / afternoon / evening (morning / afternoon / evening),
   - at noon / midday (at noon),
   - at night (at night),
   - at midnight (at midnight).

Table with examples:

That is, if you contact the people above at the specified time, they will be in the process of performing their actions. Moreover, it is unknown when they began to carry them out, how long it will last, and when it will end. The action will simply be executed at that specific time.

1. The process of action in the Future Continuous can be expressed not by time markers, but subordinate clauses conditions and times, to enter which conjunctions such as if (if) and when (when) are used:

It is possible to use the conjunction while (while) to show that one action will last against the background of another:

1. Context may also indicate that future actions will last at some point:

1. The Future Continuous is used for actions that will occur at a certain period in the future, but not necessarily continuously. In such constructions the following marker words are used: all day long (all day), during the year (during the year), in spring (spring), in November (in November), the whole week / month / year (whole week / month year). As you can see, these markers cover a large period of time, but this does not mean that the action will take place continuously:

1. The future continuous tense in English can also be used when we want to ask someone for something and therefore ask about their plans. Such sentences are often used in Russian when a person from afar begins to hint that he needs help.

1. The future continuous tense is also characterized by actions in the future, the commission of which the interlocutor is confident of, since an agreement or coincidence of circumstances pushes him to do so. In the latter case, negative sentences are more often used. Study the table with examples:

1. future for a long time actions that will take place in the near future are also expressed. Usually such actions are already planned in advance:

You may have noticed that in such examples the verbs are translated in the present tense. The fact is that this meaning of Future Continuous Tense is used as an alternative to Present Continuous Tense, which performs exactly the same function in a sentence. Accordingly, both Future and Present Continuous tenses are acceptable in this case.

1. Future Continuous Tense can also replace Future Simple Tense:

However, there is a slight difference in the use of these two tenses. Comparing the two sentences in the table, you can see that the Future Simple is used to invite a person or show interest in his appearance, while the Future Continuous is used to simply find out about the plans of the interlocutor. A couple more examples:

1. Do not forget that when using state verbs or state verbs, the Continuous tense cannot be used. This tense form is incomparable with stative verbs, since they show a state and, accordingly, cannot last. But this does not mean that you cannot communicate with such verbs. It is enough to use them in the simple future tense.

These were all cases of using the future continuous tense. It is not used so often and in almost the same situations, so you should not be afraid of it. Try to periodically return to this topic, come up with your own suggestions, and also better situation, in which this time would be acceptable. Try to test yourself by completing the Future Continuous exercises on our website. And most importantly, communicate with native speakers: ask them questions, try to fully understand them and feel the language, then learning English will only bring you pleasure.