Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Future Perfect Continuous Tense is a tense which is used to indicate actions or events that will continue until a point of time in the future. It uses the auxiliary verb i.e. will have been + present participle. Some examples of Future Perfect Continuous Tense are – In December, I will have been living in New York for two years, When I turn thirty-eight, I will have been singing for twenty-five years. Thus, you use Future Perfect Continuous Tense while describing any event or condition which will be continuing up to some point in time in the future.

Definition of Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Future Perfect Continuous Tense is a tense which is used to indicate the actions or conditions that will continue to happen up to some point in time in the future. In other words, Future Perfect Continuous Tense is used to describe or indicate actions that began in the past and will continue to occur up to a certain point in time in the future. It is also known as the future perfect progressive tense. While using the Future Perfect Continuous Tense, we project ourselves ahead in time looking back at the duration of that action, activity, or event that has begun in past or in the present and will continue in the future.

This tense uses will have been + present participle. In the forming of the Future Perfect Continuous Tense, we use ‘will have been’ irrespective of the subject being Singular or Plural. The second element that is the present participle is formed by adding -ing to the root of the verb.

For example, learning, studying, mixing, laughing, etc. While framing the questions using the Future Perfect Continuous Tense, we indicate them by inverting the subject and will. For making negative sentences we use not between will and have.

Using Future Perfect Continuous Tense sentences to describe:

Following are the situations where we use Future Perfect Continuous Tense along with sentences:

1. Duration before sometime in future

Sentence: She will have been teaching at the coaching classes for more than six months by the time she quits.

It means that she will quit the teaching job in the future and by that time she would have completed more than six months.

2. Describing the cause of something in the future

Sentence: Harry will be tired when he reaches the office as he will have been cycling for over an hour.

It means that harry is cycling to the office and thus he will be tired when he reaches there.

Examples of Past Perfect Tense

Duration before sometime in future

The following examples express that some past or present activity will continue until a particular time in the future for a duration.

• Jack is going to have been working at ABG for five years when it finally winds up.
• Will you have been living in New York for over a year, when you finish the management course?
• He is going to have been cycling for over three hours when he gets to Pune.

Describing the cause of something in the future

The following examples express the cause and effect of an action in the future.

• Mark’s writing will be beautiful because he will have been learning calligraphy for over six months.
• His driving will be perfect when he returns home as he will have been driving for over a year.

Some important points:

1. We do not use non-action verbs like to be, to seem, or to know while writing the future perfect continuous tense.
2. Sometimes, you can use ‘shall’ instead of ‘will’ for I and we.

Examples:

• I shall have been reading this book when we reach Zurich.
• We shall have been working in the NGO when it finally shifts to another city.

3. Future Perfect Continuous Tense lays emphasis on a duration of time before something in the future, whereas Future Continuous Tense lays emphasis on the interrupted actions or events.
4. You cannot use the future perfect continuous tense in time clauses i.e. clauses that begin with time expressions like while, when, after, before, by the time, as long as, as soon as, if unless, etc. In this case, use the present perfect continuous tense.
5. In the future perfect continuous tense, do not use non-continuous verbs. Also, do not use mixed verbs. With non-continuous and mixed verbs, future perfect tense can be used.
6. The use of adverbs such as always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc. can also be done.

Examples:

• She will only have been waiting for a few minutes when her car arrives.
• James will only have been taking care of the dog for a couple of hours when Jill arrives.

7. The use of passive voice in future perfect continuous tense is also rare.

Examples:

Active Voice: The famous interior designer will have been designing the house for over a year by the time it is completed.

Passive Voice: The house will have been designed by the famous interior designer for over a year by the time it is completed.

Questions on Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Fill in the blanks by choosing the correct word according to the rules of the Future Perfect Continuous Tense:

Question.1.  She _____cooking when we reach home.

1. Have been
2. Has been
3. Is
4. Will have been

Answer. Option 4 – will have been

Question.2. Harry will have been _____a movie ______ I finish my work.

1. watching, while
2. watching, when
3. watched, but
4. watched, since

Answer. Option 2 – watching, when

Question. 3. They ____ listening to the songs when I reach the office.

1. Had been
2. Will Have been
3. Will be
4. Were

Answer. Option 2 – will have been

Question.4. I ____ writing articles when he comes home.

1. Am
2. Was
3. Shall Have been
4. Has been

Answer. Option 3 – shall have been