FUTURE SIMPLE TENSE

Quick example:

• I will clean up my room. I promise!

• The telephone is ringing. I will pick it up!
• I think it will rain.
• He will stay there for hours, doing nothing.

The Future Simple is used in many situations such as when making promises or predictions.

Use

1. Promises
2. Unplanned actions (spontaneous decisions)
3. Predictions based on experience or intuition
4. Habits (obstinate insistence, usually habitual)

Going to

You can also use "going to" to express future. We use it to express predictions based on observing the present
situation:

• It's going to rain. Look at the clouds!

USE 1: Promises
The first use of the Future Simple to make promises.

Examples:

• I promise I will buy you this toy.

• Promise you will never leave me!

USE 2: Unplanned actions (spontaneous decisions)

Use this tense also to talk about unplanned (spontaneous) decisions.

Examples:

• Don't worry! I will help you with this problem.

• I will close the window. It's starting to rain.

USE 3: Predictions based on experience or intuition

We often use the Future Simple when making a prediction based on experience or intuition.

Examples:

• It will rain in a moment.

• It will get more difficult

USE 4: Habits
The last use of this tense is interesting: we can also use the Future Simple to express habits.

Examples:
 • She will bit her lip if she is thinking or if she's nervous about something.
• He will always make noise when we are sleeping.

Form
Contracted forms
WILL = 'LL

• She'll dance = she will dance

WILL + NOT = WON'T

• She won't dance = she will not dance

Declarative Sentences
Subject Auxiliary verb Verb
+ + e.g.
e.g. I/a dog etc. will
worked/went/made
Caution

Remember, you should never use will to say what somebody has already arranged or decided to do in the future:

• CORRECT: Mike is moving to New Jersey next month.

• INCORRECT: Mike will move to New Jersey next month.

• I think he will regret his choice. (Use 3)

• I will come back at 10 p.m. (Use 1)
• If you will keep your watch half an hour slow it is hardly surprising that you are late for your
appointments. (Use 4)
• John will keep dropping his towel on the floor after a bath. (Use 4)
• When I'm 60 years old, I will be completely bald. (Use 3)
• I will visit my grandma at hospital. (Use 1 or Use 2)
• Let's buy the snacks at the supermarket – they will be cheaper. (Use 3)

Questions
Auxiliary verb Subject Verb
+ + e.g.
will e.g. I/a dog etc.
worked/went/made

Remember
We often use "will" with:
probably, most likely I'll probably drop in on uncle.
I think This gift is great. I think we'll love it.
It's not going to be boring there. I'm sure there will be a lot of
I'm sure
boys at your age
I wonder (if, what, when,
It's a bit late. I wonder if he'll come.
etc.)
I expect I haven't seen Matthew today. I expect he'll call today.

• Will he be surprised when he sees me? (Use 3)

• Will Mark be able to do the shopping before 10 a.m.? (Use 3)
• Will there be plenty of people in church? (Use 3)
• Will you study harder? (Use 1)

Negative Sentences
Subject Auxiliary verb Verb
+ + e.g.
e.g. I/a dog etc. will not
worked/went/made

• I won't take any heavy equipment with me. (Use 2)

• I'm sorry I won't be able to help you with your English today. (Use 2)
• I expect that Sally will not clean up her room, unless you help her. (Use 3)

FUTURE CONTINUOUS
Quick example:
 • 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 coming to the party tonight?

We mainly use the Future Continuous (aka Future Progressive) 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:

Use

1. Future actions in progress.

2. Guesses about the present or the future.
3. Polite questions about somebody's intentions*.

Good to know...

If 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:

• 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.

Examples:

• 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.

Examples:

• He won't be coming any time soon. He is still at the office.

• Beatrice will be getting married very soon.

USE 3: Questions
The last (but not least) use of the tense is to make polite questions about something or somebody.

Examples:

• Will you be coming home before or after 10 p.m.?

• Will you be going to the supermarket? I have something to buy.

Form
Contracted forms
WILL = 'LL

Example: She'll have been = she will have been

WILL + NOT = WON'T

Example: She won't have been = she will not have been

Important: The Future Continuous appears in two forms: "will" form and "going to" form which can be used
interchangably.
Example: "She will be dancing" means "she is going to be dancing"

Declarative Sentences
Subject Auxiliary verb Auxiliary verb Verb + ing
+ + +
e.g. I/a dog etc. will be e.g. working/going/making

• She'll be having a bath when I'm back home. (Use 1)

• Tomorrow at nine, I will be hosing off (=washing with a hose) my car. (Use 1)
• This time next week, I am going to be throwing a party. (Use 1)
• I'll be watching TV when my mother arrives. (Use 1)
• They will be getting home just about now. (Use 2)

Watch out!

Like any of the Future Tenses, Future Continuous cannot be used in sentences beginning with: while, when,
before, by the time, if, etc.

• By the time, you will be finishing your paiting.

Tomorrow at this time, I will be getting bored at school! (Use 1)

Questions
Auxiliary verb Subject Auxiliary verb Verb + ing
+ + + ?
will I/you/we etc. be dancing / taking

• Is she going to be cooking when we knock at the door? (Use 1)

• Will Mark be playing football at 6 p.m.? (Use 1)
• Will you be using the screwdriver? (Use 3)

Negative Sentences
Subject Auxiliary verb Auxiliary verb Verb + ing
+ + +
e.g. I/a dog etc. will not be e.g. working/going/making

• We won't be having supper tomorrow before 8 o'clock. (Use 1)

• I am not going to be learning English tomorrow at this time. (Use 1)
• John won't be sleeping now (= I think John isn't sleeping now) (Use 2)

FUTURE PERFECT
Quick example:

• By the next year, I will have graduated from university.

We use the Future Perfect tense to express an action that will be finished before some point in the future.

Use

1. Actions that will be finished before some point in the future.

Common Time Expressions

Time expressions that are commonly used with the Future Perfect:

• Before
• By tomorrow/7 o'clock/next month
• Until/till

USE 1
The only use of this tense is to talk about future actions that will be finished before some specified point in the
future.

Examples:

• Before they come, we will have cleaned up the house.

• John will have eaten the whole cake, by the time the party starts!

Form
Contracted forms
WILL = 'LL

Example: She'll have finished = she will have finished

WILL + NOT = WON'T

Example: She won't have finished = she will not have finished

Important: The Future Perfect appears in two forms: "will" form and "going to" form which can be used
interchangably.
Example: "She will have finished" means "she is going to have finished"

Positive Sentences
Auxiliary Auxiliary
Subject Verb + ing
verb verb
+ + +
e.g. I/a dog e.g. eaten/given/gone
will have
etc. etc.

Examples Use
I will have retired by the end of this year. (Use 1)
I read 40 pages a day. If I keep up the pace, I
(Use 1)
will have read the book by Tuesday.
Questions
Auxiliary Auxiliary
Subject Verb + ing
verb verb
+ + +
e.g. I/a dog e.g. eaten/given/gone
will have
etc. etc.
 Examples Use
Will they have graduated from
(Use 1)
Cambridge by July 2009?
Will I have retired by the end of the year? (Use 1)
Will you have bought a new processor by
(Use 1)
the end of this week?
Negative Sentences
Auxiliary Auxiliary
Subject Verb + ing
verb + not verb
+ + +
e.g. I/a dog e.g. eaten/given/gone
will not have
etc. etc.

Examples Use
They won't have graduated from from
(Use 1)
Cambridge by July 2009.
My uncle won't have retired by the end
(Use 1)
of the year.

FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Quick example:

• By the next year, I will have been working as a teacher for 30 years.

We use this tense to express actions that will be happening at a definite moment in the future.

Use

1. Actions that will be in progress at a definite moment in the future.

USE 1
The only use of this tense is to talk about future actions that will be in progress at some specified point in the
future.

By tomorrow I will have been saving money for a new house for 4 years.

Examples:

• Before they come, we will have been cleaning the house for 5 hours.
• By the next year, Ben and his wife will have been living together for 50 years.

Common Time Expressions

Time expressions that are commonly used with the Future Perfect Perfect:

• By tomorrow / 8 o'clock
• This year / month / week
• Next year / month / week

Form

Contracted forms
WILL = 'LL

Example: She'll have been = she will have been

WILL + NOT = WON'T

Example: She won't have been = she will not have been

Positive Sentences
Auxiliary Auxiliary Auxiliary
Subject Verb + ing
verb verb verb
+ + + + e.g.
e.g. I/a
will have been eating/giving/going
dog etc.
etc.

Examples Use
We will have been driving 6 hours by the (Use
time we get home. 1)
In the summer Mike will have been trying (Use
to find a new job for five months. 1)
Jane will be very tired when she comes
(Use
home, because she will have been flying
1)
over 24 hours.
My father and I will have been breeding (Use
sheep for 20 years tomorrow. 1)
By the year 2020, linguists will have been
(Use
studying and defining the Indo-European
1)
language family for more than 200 years.
Note
If duration of an activity (e.g. "since April", "for three hours") is unknown then the Future Continuous should be
used instead of the Perfect Form.

Example:

• I will be taking a bath.

• I will have been taking a bath

Negative Sentences
Auxiliary Auxiliary Auxiliary
Subject Verb + ing
verb verb verb
+ + + + e.g.
e.g. I/a
will have been eating/giving/going
dog etc.
etc.
Examples Use
She won't have been writing the book
(Use 1)
for four months by the end of October.

Negative sentences sound rather unnatural. This is probably because the answer to a question like, "Will she have
been teaching for 30 years this year?", would simply be, "No, I don't think so".

Questions
Auxiliary Auxiliary Auxiliary
Subject Verb + ing
verb verb verb
+ + + + e.g.
e.g. I/a
will have been eating/giving/going
dog etc.
etc.
Examples Use
Will he have been writing the
composition for a month by the end of (Use 1)
February?
Good to know... Questions beginning with "how long" are more common.

Examples:

o How long will you have been learning German this year?
o How long will you have been trying to get your driving license this week? I hope you'll finally
make it!

’’BE GOING TO’’ FORM

"Be going to" is another form to express the future. We mainly use it to talk about planned actions and to make
predictions.

Note:
"Be going to" form is very similar to the Future Simple. Both forms can express prediction, however those
predictions aren't the same.

You can read about the difference between the two here.

Use
 1. Planned actions (intention) (Use 1) - like in the Present Continuous
2. Prediction based on observing the present situation * (Use 2)

* Use Will form to express predictions based on experience or intuition

** Sometimes you may encounter the form gonna, which is an abbreviation of going to.
Gonna is informal so be careful while using it!

Remember
You should avoid combining going to with motion verbs, especially with come and go. Instead, the Present
Continuous should be used.

Form
Declarative sentences:
Subject Auxiliary verb Auxiliary verb Verb
+ + +
I/a dog etc. is/are going to go/take etc.

• This team is definitely going to win the competition. (Use 2)

• I'm going to visit my grandma next week. (Use 1)
• Sheila is going to give birth in a couple of weeks. (Use 2)

Questions:
What is inversion?

Inversion involves swapping (inverting) the position of an auxiliary verb and subject in a sentence. The most
common use of inversion is forming interrogative sentences (questions).

Sentence Question
Earth is small compared to ther planets Is Earth small compared to other planets?
I am thirsty Am I thirsty?
My name is Is my name Mark?

If there is no auxiliary verb in the sentence, one needs to be added when you invert the word order.

Sentence Question
Earth is small compared to ther planets Is Earth small compared to other planets?
I am thirsty Am I thirsty?
My name is Is my name Mark?
Andrew had problems with health Did Andrew have problems with health?
It belongs to Emma Does it belong to Emma?
She looked tired Did she look tired?

Inversion is also used in emphasizing and in conditional sentences.

 Auxiliary verb Subject Auxiliary verb Verb
+ + +
is/are I/a dog etc. going to go/take etc.

• Is he going to apologise to Mary for his behavior? (Use 1)

• Is the USA going to close down military bases in Western Europe? (Use 2 or Use 1)
• I can see dark clouds in the sky. Is it going to rain? (Use 2)

Negative sentences:
Subject Auxiliary verb Auxiliary verb Verb
+ + +
I/a dog etc. isn't/aren't going to go/take

• The Government is not going to lower the taxes. (Use 1 or Use 2)

• "Record is not going to change me," says Mark. (Use 1)
• I'm not going to take my driving test this year. (Use 1)