Advanced English Grammar: Future Tenses

Future Simple

The Future Simple is used for:
Promises – “I won’t tell anyone your secret.”
Offers – “I’ll give you a ride home later.”
Predictions – “Vietnam’s economy will continue to grow over the next 5 years.”

Future Continuous

Use the future continuous when you will be in the middle of doing something at a point in the future.

• Don’t call me at 10, because I’ll be driving home.
• At 9:00 AM tomorrow morning , I’ll be giving a lecture in English class.
• He’ll be watching the film tonight at 9.
• Note: AT is often used with the future continuous, and BY or BEFORE is often used with the future perfect.

Future Perfect

Use the future perfect when an action will happen between now and a future point.

• I will have written a book before I’m 40.
• By the time we get to the theater, the movie will have started already.
• We will have traveled to 12 different countries by 2015.

Note: AT is often used with the future continuous, and BY or BEFORE is often used with the future perfect.

Future Perfect Continuous

Use the future perfect continuous with actions that will continue up to a future point.

• By the time she graduates, she will have been studying for 7 years.
• By 7 PM, I will have been working on this project for eight hours straight.
• By this time next year, they will have been living in Japan for two decades.

Note: BY and BY THE TIME are commonly used with the future perfect continuous.