Future Continuous grammar guide: formula, time markers and a practice exercise

«Tomorrow at this time I’ll be flying to Paris» — this isn’t bragging, it’s an example of the Future Continuous tense. This tense is used to describe actions that will be in progress at a specific moment in the future.

Imagine another situation — you’ve arranged to meet a friend, and they ask:

— Can we meet at 6 p.m.?
— Sorry, I’ll be working at that time.

Understanding the rules of this tense helps avoid confusion and clearly indicate what will be happening at a certain point in the future.

Contents

1. Forming the Future Continuous tense: rules, structure and time markers
2. How and when to use rules of the Future Continuous tense
3. Future Continuous VS Future Simple
4. Future Continuous VS Future Perfect Continuous
5. Common Pitfalls: when the rules of the Future Continuous don’t apply
6. Practice exercise
7. FAQs

The Future Continuous (Future Progressive) is one of the future tenses in English used to describe an action that will be in progress at a specific moment in the future.

Forming the Future Continuous tense: rules, structure and time markers

Any sentence in this tense is formed using the auxiliary verb will be and the main verb with the -ing ending.

• I will be sleeping at 10 p.m.
• She will be driving to work at this time tomorrow.
• They will be playing football when we arrive.

Let’s look at a table with detailed examples, showing the sentence structure and time markers for all three types: affirmative, negative, and interrogative.

What the symbols in the table mean:

• V-ing — the verb with the -ing ending, used in Continuous tenses
• won’t — the short form of will not, used in negative (and sometimes interrogative) sentences
• ’ll — the short form of will, used in affirmative sentences

How and when to use rules of the Future Continuous tense

1. An action at a specific moment in the future (with an emphasis on the duration or process of the action):

• This time next week, we will be lying on the beach.
• At 6 p.m. they will be doing yoga.

2. Two continuous actions that will be happening at the same time in the future:

• While you are working, I will be reading a book.

Note: After time-related subordinating conjunctions, we use the Present Simple instead of the future tense.

• while
• when
• if
• after
• as soon as
• until/till
• before

3. This tense is also used in questions to politely ask about someone’s plans:

• Will you be using your laptop this evening?
• Will she be joining us for dinner?

Future Continuous VS Future Simple

When doing exercises on the Future Continuous tense, you’ll often come across examples with the Future Simple. However, these two tenses should not be confused, especially when talking about the following situations:

Future Continuous VS Future Perfect Continuous

Yes, and there is a difference here. Imagine that tomorrow evening you will be working on a project — in this case, you should use the rules of Future Continuous. But if you want to emphasize that you will have been working on it for some time before that moment, then you need the Future Perfect Continuous tense.

And if you want to deepen your knowledge of future tenses in English even further, follow these links:

• Future Perfect
• Future tenses

Common Pitfalls: when the rules of the Future Continuous don’t apply

1. It is not used with stative verbs. These verbs describe states, feelings, or knowledge, not ongoing processes. They are generally not used in continuous tenses.

1) knowledge:

• know;
• understand;
• believe;

2) feelings:

• like;
• love;
• hate;
• prefer;

3) ownership:

• have;
• own;
• belong;

4) other:

• seem;
• appear;
• mean.

✗ I will be knowing the answer tomorrow.
✓ I will know the answer tomorrow.

2. Not used for sequential actions:

If a series of actions is planned in the future, we use the Future Simple, because these actions will happen one after another, not simultaneously.

✗ First, I will be waking up, then I will be having breakfast.
✓ First, I will wake up, then I will have breakfast.

Practice exercise

Complete the sentences with the correct form to help reinforce the rules and structure. Click on the sentence you’d like to check.

FAQs 

1. What is the main function of the Future Continuous tense?

According to the rules, this tense expresses an action that will be in progress at a specific moment in the future. This action may be continuing over a period of time or occurring simultaneously with another action.

• I’ll be attending the conference next month.
• The teacher will be teaching grammar soon.

2. How is the Future Continuous tense formed according to the rules?

It is formed using the auxiliary verb will be and the main verb with the -ing ending.

• Next week I’ll be taking a course.
• We will not be using the car tomorrow.
• Will you be working at this time next week?

3. How is will be shortened in spoken English?

In affirmative sentences, will is contracted to ’ll:

• I’ll be working when you come over.
• She’ll be sleeping from 7 till 9 am.

In negative and interrogative sentences, will not is contracted to won’t:

• I won’t be studying all night long.
• I won’t be trying to do it, don’t worry, I promise.
• Won't it be snowing in the mountains at this time tomorrow?

4. Can the Future Continuous be used for long-term actions in the future?

Yes, but it’s usually better to use the Future Perfect Continuous if you want to emphasize the duration of the action.

• In 10 years, she will be working as a doctor.
  
  (Continuous — focuses on the fact that the action will be in progress)

• In 10 years, she will have been working as a doctor for a decade.
  
  (Perfect Continuous — emphasizes how long she will have been doing it)

Use Continuous to highlight the ongoing nature of a future action, and Perfect Continuous when you want to stress its duration by a certain point in time.

5. Is it correct to say “I will be knowing” or “She will be wanting”?

No, because verbs like know, want, like, believe, and other stative verbs are not used in Continuous tenses. Stative verbs typically do not describe actions or processes, but rather states or conditions. That’s why we use the Future Simple with these verbs.

✗ They will be knowing the baby's gender at the reveal party.
✓ They will know the baby's gender at the reveal party.

6. Can the Future Continuous be used after words like while, when, as soon as?

No. This tense can be used in the main clause to describe an ongoing action in the future. However, in the subordinate clause introduced by time conjunctions such as while, when, if, as soon as, after, before, until, we use the Present Simple, not the Future tense.

✗ I will wait until he will finish his work.
✓ I will wait until he finishes his work.