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in this class you will learn all about
the future continuous tense which is
also called the future progressive tense
it has two names but it's only one tense
all right now this class is actually
part of a series created by Ingvild to
help you learn the English verb tenses
so the future continuous tense is used
by native English speakers quite often
and somehow English students don't know
too much about this tense so this is
your chance to learn and understand this
tense and to start to use it because
it's really not hard at all it's
actually quite easy so would you like to
begin let's do that so if we look at the
board now you'll understand a little bit
more about how this works the name of
this tense that we're learning is future
continuous and that tells you so much
what does it tell you first that it's
about the future and second that it's
about something that happens in the
future something that happens after now
that continues for some time it's
something that's happening it's not just
something that happens but it's
happening it continues it continues for
some time it's in progress alright so
the name itself gives you a good idea of
what this tense is likely to be now
let's look at an example so you'll
understand very clearly so I've drawn a
time line here this is now everything
before now is the past we're not
learning that right now everything after
that is the future and that's what we're
looking at so let's suppose in the
future tomorrow
I will start work at 9 o'clock
and I will finish work at five o'clock
when I said I will start and I said I
will finish that is the future simple
tense because it just happens I start at
9:00
I finish at 5:00 right I cannot keep on
starting so that is the future simple
tense but if I want to say that tomorrow
I will be working from 9:00 to 5:00
now I'm talking about how long I'm
working right I want to show you that it
continues from 9:00 to 5:00 so that will
be the future continuous tense or future
progressive so here we would say I will
be working right let me underline it for
you I will be working from 9:00 to 5:00
tomorrow all right this is just I will
start I will finish all right but that
one continues so let's see now
looks very quickly look at how its
constructed again very easy you take any
subject I you he she we they doesn't
matter and you say will be you have to
use this but you can use this for
everyone then you take the verb like
work and you add ing we'll be looking at
lots of examples so you understand
exactly how that works but basically
that's it it's about the future
it continues tells you about an action
that continues and it's just with the
subject I will be working now let's look
at when we can use the future continuous
tense so we can use it in different
situations the first one is when
something continues in the future for a
period of time
was the example we looked at just now
but let's look at another example so our
team will be attending a conference from
March 5th to the 8th all right our team
will be attending right this is the part
that's the future continuous from March
5th to March 8th is a period of time all
right and it will continue because they
will be there during that entire period
next we can also use the future
continuous tense when something
continues during a particular moment
okay so for example 2:30 is a moment
right but let's suppose you start doing
something at 2:00 o'clock and you finish
doing something at 4:00 o'clock then
2:30 is one of those moments during
which you will be doing something for
example someone's asked me or someone
asks you will can I call you at 2:30 and
you say no sorry you can't because at
2:30 I will be taking my English exam
all right so what does that mean let's
say the person started taking the exam
it two o'clock it's finishing at 4:00 so
to 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 right during that
entire period the person will be taking
their English exam again will be taking
all right so it can also be when
something continues during a particular
moment but it's not starting and
finishing in that moment it's continuing
through that moment ok next we can also
use it when we describing different
activities or actions that are
continuing together at the same time for
example on Tuesday Jack will be giving a
presentation
and Steve will be meeting a client so
here we had two parts that use the
future continuous we said Jack will be
giving a presentation and Steve will be
will be meeting a client all right so it
doesn't matter you could say three
things four things five things it
doesn't matter there could be many
things that are happening at the same
time and they're continuing at the same
time all right next we also use the
present story the future continuous
tense to talk about or to ask polite
questions very often people who are in
the hospitality industry or in customer
service use this style for example in a
hotel somebody might ask will you be
checking in early right so what they
want to know they could say will you
check in early but somehow it's much
more polite to use the future continuous
tense and to ask will you be checking in
early all right will you be staying for
dinner will you be attending the wedding
all right it's just a polite way of
asking so here also you see the will and
the you is there because it's a question
we'll look at that later will you be
checking in okay all right and the last
part is that very often you will be
using this tense because it's talking
about the future you very often will see
it being used with a time marker what do
I mean by a time marker a time marker is
just a word or a phrase that tells you
when something will happen in the future
in this case in the future because we're
talking about the future so those words
could be tomorrow next week next month
next year okay
at 9 o'clock on Friday in the Sam
in winter okay so very often you will
see the future continuous tense or the
future progressive tense same thing
being used with a time marker so these
are the main ways and times that we use
the future continuous tense now let's
look at when not to use the future
continuous tense because there are
certain situations in which we cannot
use this tense so in English there are
two kinds of verbs dynamic verbs and
stative verbs a dynamic verb is an
action verb for example eat run drink
okay and a stative verb describes a
condition or a state or a situation like
love know understand and so on there is
a very long list actually quite a long
list of verbs which are considered in
English stative verbs which you need to
read through and become familiar with
you can check in any good grammar book
and you will find this list of stative
verbs so in the future continuous tense
and actually in any continuous tense we
cannot use stative verbs you can in that
case you will not use future continuous
you will have to use future simple so
let's look at a few examples so stative
verbs can be talking about emotional
states mental states something that you
own or possess or all kinds of other
things
emotional let's look at an example of
that it would be wrong to say you will
be loving this car in English we cannot
say that that is not correct because
love is a stative verb so you should be
saying instead you will love this car
which is not feature continuous it is
future simple alright so you cannot use
the future continuous with that word
next for certain kinds of mental states
for example he will be understanding the
problem soon no that's wrong he cannot
say that he would need to use future
simple there and just say he will
understand the problem soon okay next
when you're talking about something that
you possess something that you have
something that you own again we cannot
use the continuous form so you cannot
say she will be having a new computer
next month no that's wrong you need to
say instead she will have a new computer
next month all right good
and then there are all kinds of other
words I'll give you an example this
phone will be costing $50 more next week
that is incorrect because cost is also
has stative verb so instead of that you
would need to say this phone will cost
$50 more next week
all right so pay attention to that it's
really important not to use stative
verbs with any of the continuous tenses
including the future continuous tense
now let's look at how we form the future
continuous tense so I've divided the
board into three parts for a positive or
affirmative sentence a negative sentence
and for a question okay so let's look at
how we form each part if it's a positive
sentence you just take any subject and
you add to it we'll be working for
example I will be working you
we'll be working we will be working they
will be working you can repeat these
after me
it's good practice you'll get used to it
he will be working she will be working
it will be working okay it is for things
like let's say a computer okay
next if it's negative we're basically
just adding the word not if you are
trying to be a little bit formal so if
you're being formal then we would say I
will not be working but most of the time
in regular conversation we don't say I
will not be working we use the
contraction or short form and we say I
won't be working on Sunday so won't is
what we use instead of will not say they
say it after me so you get the
pronunciation of won't properly alright
I won't be working you won't he won't
she won't okay so make sure that you're
saying won't properly and the full form
is they won't be working he won't be
working she won't be working it won't be
working all right
good that's the negative and now for the
question what happens with the question
as in many of the tenses we have to
change the order of the words so instead
of saying I will be working we say will
I be working say it after me will you be
working
will we be working let's say on Sunday
or whatever will they be working
will he be working will
be working will it be working alright
that's it
so basically this will be won't be will
you be this is the core of it all right
and once you know that you know the
whole tense then basically you're taking
any verb like work and adding ing so we
could say I will be working I'll be
watching this movie tonight I'll be
sleeping I'll be studying I'll be
learning English okay whatever you just
take the base form of the verb and add
ing and you're fine all right now if you
want to add any question words what are
the question words who what when where
why how and so on then you just put that
question word right before this part for
example when will you be working where
will they be working how long will he be
working all right
so you can take any of those question
words or phrases and add them just
before this but keep the rest of the
structure exactly the same as the
regular question and that's how you form
the future continuous tense now let's
look at how we form and pronounce
contractions in the future continuous
tense so for example I will be becomes
I'll be say it after me
okay I'll be you'll be will be
they'll be he'll be she'll be it'll be
now
this last one it'll be isn't used very
much so you don't have to use that we
usually say it will be because it's a
little hard to say it and it's very
unusual all right now let's make some
sentences okay or parts of sentences
with this I'll be living in New York
you'll be meeting the boss will be
shopping they'll be playing he'll be
sleeping she'll be doing her homework
it'll be working by then those are the
positive ones if it's negative I will
not be becomes what you know I won't be
say it after me I won't be and of course
you can do that for all of them I won't
be you won't be he won't be and so on
and then you add a verb plus the ing for
example I won't be working all right and
you won't be making any mistakes in the
pronunciation of these contractions now
let's look at some of the spelling
changes we need to make when we're using
the future continuous tense so for most
verbs you don't need to make too many
changes all you have to do is just add
ing for example help becomes helping do
doing right all we did was add ing now
for verbs that end with an e what you
have to do is to drop the e and add ing
for example the verb right to write
becomes writing to bake becomes baking
alright so
there is an e we would drop it like
dance dancing like that okay next for
verbs that end with I II okay then what
we do you have to make a few more
changes you change the IE to a Y for
example the verb lie becomes like tie
tying alright
and then last for verbs that end with a
c v c what is CB c c stands for
consonant and V stands for vowel a vowel
in English is a e i o u and every other
letter in english is a consonant so if
you look at the verb let's look at this
one and you'll understand and you look
at it from the end if the last letter is
a consonant and then you have a vowel
and then you have a consonant then you
double the last letter and then add ing
so the verb begin becomes beginning the
verb get again CVC right get becomes
getting or getting and sit city ok so
these are the main kinds of spelling
changes you need to make when you're
writing with the future continuous tense
now let's look at how to give short
answers using the future continuous
tense what do I mean by short answers
when someone asks a question usually
when we answer we don't have to repeat
everything that they've said so we say
something like this if the question is
will Jack be working with you tomorrow
let's say so you could say yes he will
or no he won't
so if it's positive you just take this
from here and bring it here okay
yes he will here we cannot use a
contraction
you cannot shorten it don't say yes
he'll know okay yes he will
or no he won't
let's look at another example will they
be announcing the winners today so what
do we do yes they will or no they won't
say it after me
yes they will no they won't
good again no contraction possible and
let's take one more will you be
attending the lecture so we could say
what yes I will or nope I won't that's
it so once you know that someone asks
you a question like that which starts
with the will in the future continuous
you can answer it with yes I will no I
won't all right so if I ask you will you
be eating dinner later you could say
whichever one applies to you yes I will
or no I won't now let's do some practice
exercises with the future continuous
tense so we have some positive sentences
to make some negative and some questions
okay so let's start with the first one
so here first it has something written
in the future simple and we will be
changing it to the future continuous so
I will learn how do we change that into
the future continuous it should be I
will be learning okay
I will be learning they will sell
becomes what in future continues they
will be selling I will be learning they
will be selling okay good now let's take
some sentences which already are in the
future continuous tense and make them
negative the first sentence we will be
taking the train let's make this one
negative in a formal way
so what word can you add and where do
you add it to make this negative we
would say we will not be taking the
train we will not be taking the train
okay
it comes after will will will not now
let's make this one negative but in an
informal way it says right now he will
be staying at a hotel how do we make
that negative over here this part so it
becomes he won't okay instead of will he
won't be staying at a hotel all right
good now let's make some questions
number five Robert will be calling at
four o'clock so you need to make a
question that starts with what time what
will it be what time will Robert be
calling okay because if we didn't have
this question word or question phrase
the question would just be will Robert
be calling
but if we add the question phrase we
still keep that same structure for just
adding the question word or question
phrase what time will Robert be calling
okay good
number six Donna will be teaching from
7:00 to 8:00 p.m. so now you want to ask
a question that starts with when so how
do we form it
when will Donna be teaching right
because again if we didn't have the
question word this would become will
Donna be teaching but with the question
word when will Donna be teaching what
will Donna be teaching how long will
Donna be teaching and so on okay so this
is a little bit of review of what we've
been studying so far in the future
continuous tense now let's look at some
common mistakes that are made when using
the future continuous tense and see how
we can avoid them and correct them so
sometimes a mistake is made with the
tense itself the wrong tense is being
used so let's suppose that somebody asks
you could you call me at 8 o'clock today
and you say no I can't call it 8 as I
will travel them so that's incorrect
because it should not be I will travel
which is future simple because travel is
continuous so here you could actually
use the future continuous tense right so
you should say I will be traveling then
okay I can't call it 8 as I'll be
traveling then traveling by the way is
one of those words that could be used
and written
with a double L here or without a double
L both are correct
all right spelling sometimes the mistake
is a spelling error for example see if
you can find the mistake here and see if
you can correct it she'll be taking a
vacation now when I say it it sounds
just fine but look at the spelling here
how can we fix that
remember what we do if the verb ends
with an e we need to cancel the e before
we add I and G so it should look like
this
tak I and G okay good or let's look at
another spelling mistake we'll be
swimming in the sea so here if the
mistake this was an example of one of
those consonant vowel consonant right
swim is like that so we need to do what
double the last letter will be swimming
in the sea all right good
next sometimes a mistake is made with
the short answer so somebody said will
you be going on holiday and the person
answered yes aisle well we can't do that
because we learned that when we give the
positive short answer
we can't contract it right we cannot
contract it so you need to say yes I
will all right we can only contract it
in the negative form we could say no I
won't but yes I will very good
now sometimes mistakes are actually very
often mistakes are made when framing
questions because we have to change the
order of questions the the order of the
words in the question sometimes that can
be a little bit confusing so always pay
more attention to a question all right
and
make sure that you've got that order
right so this person said when they will
be fixing the car that's incorrect
how can we fix it it should be when will
they be fixing the car
why because right now this is just a
sentence they will be fixing the car but
in a when we make it a question we have
to change the order right will they be
fixing the car when will they be fixing
the car right so remember that it's
really really important with the
questions okay be careful that that
mistake doesn't happen to you and the
last one is of course with those stative
verbs remember that there's all those
verbs that you cannot use in a
continuous form at all so this person
said oh sorry here and this one says
soon you will be knowing the future
continuous tense well that's wonderful
but there's a mistake in it and the
mistake is this stative verb right we
cannot say you will be knowing so there
we would just have to make it future
simple soon you will know the future
continuous tense and you will not make
these kind of mistakes he will speak
clearly and confidently so to review you
have learned the future continuous tense
when you know when to use it which we
learned and also how to use it which we
did practice a lot of together so in
other words by now you should feel
comfortable doing this making a positive
sentence a negative sentence and the
question using the future continuous
tense
for example you should be able to say
easily she will be visiting Italy next
year or she won't be visiting Italy next
or will she be visiting Italy next year
okay and when you can do that easily and
comfortably without worrying without
stressing out without making mistakes
then you have mastered this tense and of
course also you should be able to add
those question words such as when will
she be visiting Italy how often will she
be visiting Italy right you should be
able to do that as well so where do you
go from here it's like this by doing the
future continuous tense if you've been
doing those theories with us this is the
last of the basic tenses okay you will
probably have finished about six tenses
and this is the sixth one the future
continuous tense if you feel that you're
ready then please move on to the next
one because the next tense is the
present perfect tense and with those
perfect tenses you move to the advanced
level and you start doing those advanced
tenses which are excellent to use
however if you're not ready for that
that's perfectly fine if you want to
feel more confident and just go over it
a little bit more go back over these
tenses you could start at the beginning
go through them go through them one by
one
fill in any doubts and questions that
you have in your mind do a little more
practice watch the lessons make notes
write the answers and also sometimes
just leave it on listen to it right let
it go through your head let me you can
hear me saying go back to the base form
of the verb this is the short answer and
eventually that voice my voice will
become your voice in your mind and the
answers will come to you as you're
speaking as you're writing and so on
okay but of course if you're ready and
you'd like to move forward then please
watch the next tense in this series
which is the present perfect tense all
right
and last of all if you'd like a little
more practice in this particular test
the future continuous tense please go to
invit where you can do a quiz on this
and congratulations once again on
learning all of these wonderful tenses
which will allow you to speak in so much
more of a confident fluent manner
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About this lesson
Learn how to use the future continuous to talk about actions in progress at a specific time in the future.