Envisioning Actions in Motion
The future progressive, also known as the future continuous tense, allows us to paint a picture of actions that will be in progress at a specific time in the future. Languagehood’s guide to the future progressive tense is designed to help learners vividly describe ongoing future events, providing a dynamic way to talk about what’s yet to come.
Understanding the Future Progressive Tense
The future progressive tense is used to indicate that an action will be happening at a particular moment in the future. It emphasizes the duration of the action rather than the completion.
When to Use the Future Progressive Tense
- Ongoing Future Actions: To describe actions that will be in progress at a certain future time.
- “This time next week, I will be lying on the beach.”
- Interrupted Future Actions: To indicate a future action that will be interrupted by another action.
- “I will be having dinner when you arrive.”
- Parallel Future Actions: When two actions will be happening at the same time.
- “At noon tomorrow, we will be flying over the mountains.”
- Predicting the Present: To speculate about what is happening right now.
- “He won’t answer his phone; he will be driving.”
Forming the Future Progressive Tense
To form the future progressive tense, use ‘will be’ followed by the verb with an ‘-ing’ ending.
- Affirmative: Subject + will be + verb-ing
- “She will be working on the project all night.”
- Negative: Subject + will not be + verb-ing
- “They will not be going to the party tonight.”
- Question: Will + subject + be + verb-ing?
- “Will he be joining us for dinner?”
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Forgetting the ‘-ing’ Form: The continuous aspect is what sets this tense apart from the simple future.
- Incorrect: “Next year, I will study at a university in Paris.”
- Correct: “Next year, I will be studying at a university in Paris.”
- Misplacing Time Expressions: Ensure that the time expression correctly points to the future.
- Incorrect: “I will be working when he will arrive.”
- Correct: “I will be working when he arrives.”
Examples for Practice
- “Tomorrow at this time, I will be presenting our findings to the committee.”
- “Don’t call me at 8 PM; I will be watching the football game.”
- “Will you be using the car this evening?”
The future progressive tense adds a layer of anticipation and continuity to our statements about the future. This guide from Languagehood is intended to help learners grasp how to form and use the future progressive tense, enabling them to describe actions that will unfold over time and paint a dynamic picture of future events.
