The future progressive (also called future continuous) is a tense that is a ongoing handlung or a state at a particular time in the future represents. It is used in English grammar with either want to or going to be and a present participle.
Formation and Rules of the Future Progressive
Fortunately, the formation of the future progressive in English is not that complicated and follows a certain pattern. As you have already learned, the future progressive becomes either with want to or going to be and one present participle educated. You will learn the exact rules for forming both forms in this section.
The present participle is just the -ing form of a verb. With this you form the present progressive (She is walking.), if you want to describe that something is happening – so it is a continuous action in the present. As the name suggests, the present participle is used in the future progressive to indicate that an action is ongoing in the future.
Would you like a repeat of the present progressive? No problem! Then just take a look at our explanation!
Future progressives with want to
The future progressive is formed with want be as follows: Subject + want be + present participle + object. You can then form sentences like this:
This time next week, we want to sitting around a campfire, enjoying our summer vacation.
Before you know it, she want to driving herself around town. They really grow up so fast!
As you can see in the two examples, that remains want to always the same. So you only have to think of the present participle of the respective verb. So the first example sentence was with the subject wethe unchanged want to and the present participle sitting educated. The second sentence follows exactly the same pattern – just with the subject she and the present participle driving.
Short form with want
As is often the case in English, there is short form, which speakers like to use, especially in oral language use. You form these by merging contraction) from the subject and want.
If we use the short form in our two example sentences, they will look like this:
This time next week, well be sitting around a campfire, enjoying our summer vacation.
Before you know it she’ll be driving yourself around town. They really grow up so fast!
All further formations of the short form with want can be found in the table below:
at denied statements With not you form the short form like this:
- either: the normal short form (I’ll, you’lletc.) + not + be + present participle + object
- or: Subject + won’t + be + present participle + object
Future progressives with going to be
True, it is used somewhat less frequently than the form with want tobut you can also do the Future Progressive going to instead of want form. It looks like this: Subject + conjugated form of to be + going to be + present participle + object. You can find a few example sentences below:
In the going to be working all night
They are going to be staying with friends of theirs over the holidays.
In the first sentence was for the subject I and the conjugated form of to be (at the) the short form In the and the present participle working used. The second sentence, however, was with the subject theythe conjugated form of to be (are) and the present participle staying educated.
Denied statements in the future progressive with going to be you form by simply writing the word not before going to be add – otherwise the sentence structure remains the same. From the example sentence I’m going to be working all night, so will In the not going to be working all night.
In the two examples, you could certainly do that too Future progressives with want be use. In this case, that was want but just through going to replaced. Both forms are complete in many situations interchangeablebut the future progressive with want be is usually used more often.
For going to there is also one short formnamely gonna. However, this is fairly colloquial and is therefore mostly only used in spoken or informal written English. In our example above, becomes off I’m going to be working all night the statement I’m gonna be working all night.
Future Perfect Progressive
With the present participle we can also form the so-called future perfect progressive or future perfect continuous. This tense is used to indicate the duration of an activityt or an event to describe in the future.
The Future Perfect Progressive becomes with will have been and the present participle. The whole sentence structure then looks like this: time specification + subject + will have been + present participle + object. So you could form sentences like this:
As of this March, I will have been studying at this university for three years.
By the time the guests arrive, they’ll have been cooking the entire afternoon.
The first sentence was with the subject Ithe unchanged will have been and the present participle studying formed, while the second sentence with the short form of the subject they and want (they’ll), have been and the present participle cooking was formed. the times In addition, in the two examples do not necessarily have to be at the beginning of the sentences, but can also be at the very end after the objects. It would then look like this:
I will have been studying at this university for three years as of this March.
They’ll have been cooking the entire afternoon band the time the guests arrive.
By the way, you educate denied statements in the future perfect progressive as follows: time specification + subject + want not have finished + present participle + object. Out of want not then you can do that too short form won’t to use.
Future Progressive Use
As you have already learned, the future progressive is mainly hiring longer event or one ongoing action at some point in time in the future dar. You see that z. B. in the following sentence:
Sorry, I can’t come tomorrow. I will be babysitting my neighbors’ kids every day.
So in the example above, babysitting is the longer event or ongoing action—in this case, it’s even included every day specially emphasized. By the tomorrow indicates that the event will take place in the future.
Future progressive signal words
As you may have noticed, in many sentences, the future progressive comes with explicit ones times before. These can serve as very helpful signal words. Some of these signal words that you can remember are e.g. e.g.:
- tomorrow
- this time next week/month/year
- by March
- at 4 o’clock
Questions with the Future Progressive
With the Future Progressive you can neutral questions put – that is, if you ask for information, you can use this tense. So you shouldn’t use the future progressive when you’re asking for something with a question. The same question would look like this in both cases:
neutral question pleaseWill you be helping out at the fundraiser tomorrow?Will you be joining? us for lunch today?Will you be waiting for me at the bus stop?Will you help? out at the fundraiser tomorrow, please?Will you join? us for lunch today?Will you wait for me at the bus stop?future progressivesFuture Simple/Will Future
Future progressives with anyway
Another use of the future progressive is to describe actions that will take place «anyway» or as a matter of course in the future. These are most commonly associated with the word anyway marked – sometimes it can anyway but also only indirectly contained in the sentence. You can see that in the example below – the future progressive was underlined in the sentence, by the way.
I’ll pick up your sister on my way home from work. I’ll be driving right past her place anyway.
Future progressive for the present
In some cases, you can also use the future progressive to about actions in the present to speculate. So if you z. B. have an assumption about a longer event or a continuous action, you can also express this with the future progressive. You can find such a case in the sentence below, in which the future progressive has also been underlined as in the last paragraph.
Did you realize that Joe didn’t show up today? I guess he’ll be hanging out with his girlfriend instead.
Future Progressive – The most important things at a glance
- The future progressive is a tense that is a ongoing action or a longer event at a specific time in the future.
- It will come with either want be (subject + want to + present participle + object) or going to be (subject + conjugated form of to be + going to be + present participle + object).
- Often the Short form with want (e.g. I’ll instead of I will) is used – in more informal contexts the short form is also used gonna (instead of going to).
- That Future Perfect Progressive you can use to describe the duration of an activity or event in the future.
- signal words are times how: tomorrow, in two hours, by next month, next Wednesdayetc.
- You can also use the future progressive to neutral questions to ask, actions that will take place in the future «anyway» (anyway) will take place, describe as well as over actions in the present to speculate.