Future continuous

Future continuous construction: will/shall + be + verb + –ing.

Example verb: to communicate

I will be communicating	We will be communicating
You will be communicating	You (guys) will be communicating
He/she/it will be communicating	They will be communicating

We use the future continuous or the future progressive to talk about an action that will be in progress in the future

• I will be lying on the beach by this time tomorrow.
• We shall be flying to Russia on Friday.
• They will be handling the case themselves.

We use the future continuous to talk about parallel actions in the future

That is, if there are two or more actions that happen at the same time.

• When he is doing his homework, she will be cleaning the kitchen.
• By 21h tomorrow morning I will be doing the garden while they clean the house.
• This afternoon they will be cleaning the house, preparing the meal and having a drink together.

We can use the future continuous to predict the present or to guess what might be happening in any given situation

• Let them be alone, they will be deciding his future.
• If you call him now, He’ll be talking to his mum. 
• I wouldn’t go in there, They will be discussing important things.
• Let’s not arrive before 20h, they will be preparing the dinner.

Future continuous with context and analysis

Construction: will/shall + be + gerund (verb + -ing)  

Example verb: to talk

I will be talking	We will be talking
You will be talking	You (guys) will be talking
He/she/it will be talking	They will be talking

Context

• What will you be doing this weekend, Jane?¹
• Not a lot to be honest. I’ll be seeing some friends and staying at home.² What about you?
• I won’t be doing anything,³ because I’m exhausted from the week’s work,⁴ and I have zero desire to do anything to be honest.
• Sounds like a good plan!
• You bet! So, what are you planning to do with your friends?⁵
• Well, I’ll be seeing a couple of old colleagues⁶ from my last job and we’ll be going out to the centre for a few drinks.
• Sounds like a plan. So, these old colleagues of yours, has it been a long time since you’ve seen them?⁷
• It certainly has been a long time. I haven’t seen them in over five years.⁸ I never bother to call them because I assume, they’ll be spending time with their children.⁹ They’re generally very tied up with all that stuff.

Analysis

1. What will you be doing this weekend, Jane? The future continuous is being used ‘will + be + doing’ to describe an action in the future that will be in progress.
2. I’ll be seeing some friends and staying at home. The future continuous ‘I’ll be seeing’ describes an action in the future that will be in progress.
3. I won’t be doing anything. The future continuous in its negative form ‘won’t be doing’ is being used to talk about an action that won’t be in progress in the future.
4. I’m exhausted from the week’s work. Be careful to use the possessive (‘s) in English correctly. The thing being possessed ‘work’, is being possessed by ‘week’. Therefore, because ‘week’ is possessing ‘work’ you need to add ‘s to ‘week’, hence ‘week’s work’.
5. What are you planning to do with your friends? The present continuous ‘are you planning’ is being used here to talk about the near future.
6. I’ll be seeing a couple of old colleagues. The future continuous is being used ‘I’ll + be + seeing’ to describe an action in the future that will be in progress.
7. So, these old colleagues of yours, has it been a long time since you’ve seen them? The present perfect (has it been) is being used to talk about an action or experience, that due to its nature, continues until the present moment. Because the experience of ‘not seeing your colleagues’ continues until the present moment.
8. I haven’t seen them in over five years. The present perfect is used to describe an experience that continues until the present moment.
9. I never bother to call them because I assume, they’ll be spending time with their children. The future continuous ‘they’ll be spending’ is used here to guess what might be happening in any given situation.

See also