FUTURE CONTINUOUS

Basic form

 Subject + WILL + BE + Verb (continuous form)

Quick examples

• Tomorrow at this time, I will be taking my English langauge exam.
• Ben won't be eating the dinner now. He usually eats it around noon!
• Will you be comingto the party tonight?

We mainly use the Future Continuous to indicate that we will be in the middle of doing something in a specified time in the future. There are also two other uses, listed below:

USES

1. Future actions in progress
2. Guesses about the present or the future
3. Polite questions about somebody's intention

Good to knowIf you want to learn about somebody's intentions, you should always use the Future Continuous rather than the Present Simple. Using the Future Simple implies that you want to influence somebody's decision. Questions become much more objective if formed in the Future Continuous.

Compare:

• Will you come home? (= I want you to come home)
• Will you be coming home? (= I just want to know)

Use 1: Future actions in progress

The first use of the Future Continuous is to express future action in progress.

• In an hour, I will be sitting in front of my TV.
• In the evening, I will be baking a birthday cake.

Use 2: Guesses

Use this tense also to make guesses about something in the present or future.

• He won't be coming any time soon. He is still at the office.
• Beatrice will be getting married very soon.

Use 3: Questions

And the last use of the tense is to make polite questions about something or somebody.

• Will you be coming home before or after 10 PM?
• Will you be goingto the supermarket? I have something to buy.