4.2. Future Perfect-Continuous
Scheme:
will have been doing
Study the table above, then grammar references and time expressions.
Revision: Study the situations when the future perfect-continuous tense is used.
- We emphasize the duration of an action up to a certain time in the future.
By 2015, he will have been working for a building company for 20 years.
I will have been learning French for six months by the end of the year.
By the time they reach New York, they will have been travelling for two days.
By his sixtieth birthday he will have been teaching for 35 years.
How long will you have been starring in films by the time you are forty?
Compare the situations used in past perfect-continuous and future perfect-continuous:
- They had been looking for a house for a year before / by last April.
- They will have been looking for a house for a year before / by next April.
Important! As there are different tenses for present, past and future, time expressions help to differentiate the tenses. Learn and use them in the right place.
Practice –Grammar in use
Task 1: Make up sentences in Future Tenses using time expressions.
Task 2: Identify the tenses and match them to the correct descriptions.
A: 1. I like these shoes. I’ll buy them.
2. They will have eaten lunch by two o’clock this afternoon.
3. I’m going to run my own company in the future.
4. This time tomorrow, I’ll be taking my driving test.
5. By the time Jack finishes the race, he will have been running for an hour.
6. I think he will win the competition.
7. I’ll tell Paul about the party. I’ll be seeing him at work anyway.
8. Will you be speaking to Rob later? I’ve got a message for him.
9. Look at the tree. It is going to fall down.
10. Since you’re tired, I’ll cook dinner tonight.
B: a) an offer, promise, threat, etc;
b) an action which will definitely happen in the future as a result of arrangement;
c) a plan, intention, ambition we have for the future;
d) predictions about the future;
e) asking politely about someone’s plans for the near future to use them;
f) an action which will be finished before a stated future time;
g) to emphasize the duration of an action up to a certain time in the future;
h) an action which will be in progress at a stated future time;
i) on-the-spot decision;
j) prediction when there is evidence that something will happen in the near future.
Task 3:
A. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense.
Tomorrow night my friend Sophie is coming to visit me. Her train 1) ______ (arrive) at six o'clock and as I 2) _______ (still/work) at that time, we 3) _______ (meet) in the city centre at seven. I'm sure that we 4) _______ (have) dinner at Gianni's because we always seem to end up there. By the time we finished eating Sophie 5) ________ (persuade) me to take her to the cinema because there's a film she wants to see.
B. Which tense situations are used in part A?
a) timetables / programmes;
b) actions which will have finished before a stated future time;
c) fixed arrangements in the near future;
d) actions which will be in progress at a stated future time;
e) predictions based on what we know
Task 4: Underline the correct tense form.
We will start the meeting as soon as everyone arrives/will arrive.
I hope we are being/will be there in an hour or so.
If you need/will need any help, just ask Bob.
I don’t know if you are/will be able to get a promotion at your work, you are not responsible.
Will you see Keith when you are/will be at work?
Task 5: Put the verbs in brackets into the future simple or continuous, perfect or perfect-continuous tenses, as in the examples:
A: By Monday morning, Kelly will have written (write) her History essay.
B: Kelly can't come with us on Sunday because she will be writing (write) her History essay all the afternoon.
1. A: James can’t join us. He________ (work) all Saturday.
B: By January he_________ (work) for a company for three years.
2. A: Susie __________ (clean) the house before Jack and Sally arrive.
B: She __________ (clean) it for ages because the place is really untidy.
3. A: If Angela can get some time off work, we _________ (fly) to Paris for the weekend.
B: If Angela gets time off work, at this time on Friday we (fly) to Paris.
4. A: Do you think we _________ (finish) the report today?
B: Definitely, if we work hard we_________ (finish) it by three o' clock.
5. A: I ________ (move) to a bigger house next month.
B: Fine! We _________ (wait) for this event for two years by this time.
Check your answers for Grammar: lesson four, part 4.2, practice 2.
–i; 2 – f; 3 – c; 4 – h; 5 – g; 6 – d; 7 – b; 8 – e; 9 – j; 10 – a.