The Future Continuous is one of the English tenses, which will become your constant enemy in academic writing unless you grasp its structure and usage requirements. There are a lot of ways to master the Future Continuous, but Royal Editing will dwell on three of them. First of all, we will present you a comprehensive grammar guide, including rules, exceptions and opportune examples. Then you will get to know two more tips on how to consolidate your knowledge and start using the Future Continuous without difficulties.
Follow grammar guides
To begin with, we give you the scheme how the Future Continuous forms: Future Indefinite of to be + Participle I (e. g. will be doing, will be jogging, will be crying etc.). To construct an interrogative sentence, simply move will to the beginning of it:
- Will your kids be playing cards tomorrow at 6?
- Will John be playing the violin when I come?
A negative sentence requires the particle not after the verb will, which in informal writing contracts into won’t, but it never does so in school essays , papers and other projects.
- My kids will not / won’t be playing cards tomorrow at 6.
- John will not / won’t be playing the violin when you come.
Now, that is how negative interrogative forms look like in academic (the first example) and informal (the second one) styles:
- Will your kids not be playing cards tomorrow at 6?
- Won’t John be playing the violin then I come?
You should use the Future Continuous only in three cases. The first one is presented by such situations in the future, in which a continuous action takes place at a certain point in time. This point must be indicated either by an adverb / adverbial phrase ( at 8 o’clock, tomorrow at 10 etc.) or by another future action (when it is done, when I come etc.). You should remember the rules on time clauses when building such sentences. Look at these examples:
- Jules will not be able to come; she will be anchoring a talk show at 8 pm.
- When I turn on my TV at 8 pm, Jules will be anchoring my favorite talk show.
The Future Continuous can also have a modal coloring, denoting an action that is sure to take place in the future. Often such actions do not depend on the will of the speaker nor on the will of the doer:
- I feel I will be begging him to forgive me once he enters this door.
- You will be getting into debt leading the life you have chosen.
And the last case of the Future Continuous use is described by situations when something has already been planned and is going to be happening in the future:
- I’ll be watching TV series later this evening; would you like to join me?
- I am so sorry I cannot accept your invitation; I will be delivering lectures tomorrow afternoon.
When following all these rules, you should pay attention to the groups of verbs that cannot be used in the continuous form. The principle is simple: if a verb cannot express a process, it does not have this form. Now take a closer look at them:
- verbs denoting perception (to hear, to smell, to sense);
- verbs denoting mental processes (to trust, to know, to believe);
- verbs denoting desires (to want, to desire, to wish);
- verbs denoting feelings (to admire, to love, to hate);
- verbs denoting abstract connections between things and people (to belong, to comprise, to consist ).
When using these verbs with regards to the future, put them in the Future Indefinite form:
- When you approach my home tomorrow, I will hear your steps on the grass.
- As to our equipment for this project, it will consist of two pumps and a brand-new generator.
- The only thing I will wish tomorrow morning is him waking up next to me.
Come to love literature
When you learn the rules given above, your academic writing will reach a better level of proficiency. Meanwhile, we move on to our next tips, one of them being very simple: love literature. Literature is a limitless storage of all human knowledge. Becoming a conscious reader, you facilitate your life in many ways. First, you enrich your vocabulary. Second, you become a well-rounded individual. And third, you brush up your grammar skills, including the knowledge of the Future Continuous.
While reading a book, you cannot help but notice how many grammar rules are not just abstract guides with a lot of abstruse words. They are practical advice how to make others understand you. When you see with your own eyes how whole books are based on the same grammatical principles, it becomes easier for you to grasp them. And the more you read, the easier it gets for you to apply the acquired knowledge in practice.
Move on to practice
An ounce of practice is worth a pound of theory. Even having learnt by heart all grammar rules and exceptions, you will not succeed without applying them in practice. After some time, the treacherous knowledge will be gone from your mind, leaving no trace of you knowing the rules so well.
What we suggest is starting building sentences with the Future Continuous right now. Do not be afraid of initial mistakes, as they will only light your way to understanding. Let Royal Editing correct errors for you during the first stages, leaving you the ability to track each of them in your final document. This is a perfect way to analyze what you get wrong and an incentive to achieve greater heights.
Let us summarize it for you. The Future Continuous an English tense, which it is used to indicate a continuous action somewhere in the future. To build a sentence with it, you should take will be and then use a verb in the continuous form. Reading more literature ensures you get the idea right because each time you encounter the Future Continuous, it will ring a bell. Last but not least, do not be shy to try it out in practice. Include this tense to your papers where it is appropriate, and then submit them to Royal Editing for check. We will be only glad to witness your grammar success.