Talking about the Future: Future Continuous and Future Perfect
Task Tips
In the Speaking, you will often be asked to talk about your future plans, hopes and predictions. You will impress the examiner if you are able to demonstrate your command of what you have already learnt in this lesson, as well as by using the tenses and language on this page.
Think carefully about how you could use the language in ways to describe your own life. You never know - you might just be asked a question where you can use it.
The following can also be used to talk about the future:
- Future Continuous (subject + will + be + gerund)
Similar to other continuous tenses, the future continuous is used to refer to an action in progress at a specific time – in this case, the future.
For example: This time tomorrow, we‘ll be sitting on the beach.
You can include adverbs to make it more or less definite.
For example: This time next year, I‘ll hopefully/probably/definitely be living somewhere else.
The future continuous can also be used to talk about something which will happen as part of the normal course of events.
For example: I‘ll be going past the supermarket on the way home if you want me to pick anything up.
It is often also used to sound polite when asking questions.
For example: Will you be wanting something to eat when you come over later?
- Future Perfect Simple (subject + will + have + past participle)
- Future Perfect Continuous (subject + will + have + been + gerund)
The future perfect continuous can be used to talk about the duration of an activity before a point in the future.
For example: When he introduces her to his parents next week, they‘ll (already) have been going out for more than two years.
- Hope / Want / Plan / Aim + perfect infinitive (to + have + past participle)
We can use the above verbs followed by the perfect infinitive to talk about our hopes and plans for the future. We use it with the expression by (the time).
For example: I hope to have passed my C1 exam by December.
With the above in mind, complete the following gaps with will/won’t, future continuous, future perfect simple, or future perfect continuous, using the verbs below the exercise.