FUTURE TENSES
FUTURE
This is how we make it:
WILL + INFINITIVE WITHOUT TO
| AFFIRMATIVE | AFFIRMATIVE SHORT FORM |
| I will meet him later | I’ll meet him later |
| You will come | You’ll come |
| It will rain tomorrow | it’ll rain tomorrow |
| She will be late | she’ll be late |
| He will help us later | he’ll help us later |
| We will get married in September | we’ll get married in September |
| They will cook dinner | they’ll cook dinner |
| NEGATIVE | NEGATIVE SHORT FORM |
| I will not go | I won’t go |
| You will not be late | you won’t be late |
| It will not snow tomorrow | it won’t snow tomorrow |
| She will not get the job | she won’t get the job |
| He will not pass the exam | he won’t pass the exam |
| We will not come | we won’t come |
| They will not stop | they won’t stop |
| YES / NO QUESTIONS: | WH QUESTIONS |
| Will I go? | Where will I go? |
| Will you come early? | Why will you come early? |
| Will it be cold? | When will it be cold? |
| Will she dance? | Who will she dance with? |
| Will he arrive soon? | What time will he arrive? |
| Will we cook? | What will we cook? |
| Will they leave? | When will they leave? |
OK, now understand when to use the different future forms!
Will
- We use will to predict the future. For future facts and things that are less certain.
The sun will rise at 7am.
I think the Conservatives will win the next election.
- Promises / requests / refusals / offers.
I’ll help you with your homework.
Will you give me a hand?
I won’t go!
In a similar way, we often use ‘will’ when we’re talking about a decision at the moment of speaking.
A: I’m cold. B: I’ll close the window.
Shall
‘Shall’ is used mainly in the forms ‘shall I?’ and ‘shall we?’. It is used when you want to get someone’s opinion, especially for offers and suggestions.
Shall I open the window? (= Do you want me to open the window?)
Where shall we go tonight? (= What’s your opinion?)
Be going to
- We use ‘be going to’ to talk about our future intentions and plans.
A: We’ve run out of milk. B: I know, I’m going to buy some.
I’m going to a concert next week.
- We can also use ‘be going to’ to make a prediction about the future. Often it’s possible to use both ‘be going to’ and ‘will’ but it’s more common to use ‘be going to’ if we can see evidence in the present.
Look at those boys playing football! They’re going to break the window.
The sky is getting darker and darker. It’s going to rain.
Present continuous
For definite future arrangements (with a future time word). In this case we have already made a plan and we are pretty sure that the event will happen in the future.
I’m watching a movie with my friends tomorrow
We are partying this weekend!
FUTURE PERFECT
This is how we make it:
WILL + HAVE + VERB IN THE PARTICIPLE FORM
| AFFIRMATIVE | SHORT FORM |
| By six pm tonight: | |
| I will have finished this book | I’ll have finished this book |
| You will have studied the English tenses | You’ll have studied the English tenses |
| She will have cooked dinner | She’ll have cooked dinner |
| He will have arrived | He’ll have arrived |
| We will have met Julie | We’ll have met Julie |
| It will have stopped raining | It’ll have stopped raining |
| They will have left Japan | They’ll have left Japan |
| NEGATIVE | SHORT FORM |
| By next week, | |
| I will not have finished this book | I won’t have finished this book |
| You will not have studied the English tenses | You won’t have studied the English tenses |
| She will not have cooked dinner | She won’t have cooked dinner |
| He will not have arrived | He won’t have arrived |
| We will not have met Julie | We won’t have met Julie |
| It will not have stopped raining | It won’t have stopped raining |
| They will not have left Japan | They won’t have left Japan |
| YES / NO QUESTIONS: | WH QUESTIONS: |
| By next year, | When will I have finished writing this book? |
| will I have finished writing this book? | Why will you have studied all the English verb tenses by tomorrow? |
| will you have studied all the English verb tenses? | When will she have been here three weeks? |
| will she have graduated? | Why will he have got married before June? |
| will he have got married? | Why will it have got colder by May? |
| will it have got colder? | How will we have met your boyfriend by tonight? |
| will we have met your boyfriend? | When will they have left their jobs? |
| will they have left their jobs? |
OK, now understand when to use it
- to say ‘how long’ for an action that starts before and continues up to another action or time in the future.
When we get married, I’ll have known Robert for four years.
At 4 o’clock, I’ll have been in this office for 24 hours.
On Tuesday, I will have lived here for one year.
- With a future time word, (and often with ‘by’) to talk about an action that will finish before a certain time in the future, but we don’t know exactly when.
By 10 o’clock, I will have finished my homework. (= I will finish my homework some time before 10, but we don’t know exactly when.)
By the time I’m sixty, I will have retired. (= I will retire sometime before I’m sixty. Maybe when I’m fifty-nine, maybe when I’m fifty-two.)
FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS
This is how we make it:
WILL + HAVE + BEEN + VERB IN THE ING FORM
| POSITIVE | SHORT FORM |
| I will have been working | I’ll have been working |
| You will have been sleeping | You’ll have been sleeping |
| She will have been studying | She’ll have been studying |
| He will have been cooking | He’ll have been cooking |
| It will have been raining | It’ll have been raining |
| We will have been exercising | We’ll have been exercising |
| They will have been travelling | They’ll have been travelling |
| NEGATIVE | SHORT FORM |
| I will not have been working | I won’t have been working |
| You will not have been sleeping | You won’t have been sleeping |
| She will not have been studying | She won’t have been studying |
| He will not have been cooking | He won’t have been cooking |
| It will not have been raining | It won’t have been raining |
| We will not have been exercising | We won’t have been exercising |
| They will not have been travelling | They won’t have been travelling |
| YES / NO QUESTIONS | WH QUESTIONS |
| Will I have been working? | Where will I have been working? |
| Will you have been sleeping? | Why will you have been sleeping? |
| Will she have been studying? | Where will she have been studying? |
| Will he have been cooking? | What will he have been cooking? |
| Will it have been raining? | How long will it have been raining? |
| Will we have been exercising? | Where will we have been exercising? |
| Will they have been travelling? | How long will they have been travelling? |
OK, now understand when to use it
We can use the future perfect continuous to say ‘how long’ for an action that continues up to another point in the future. The second point can be a time or another action.
In April, she will have been teaching for twelve years.
By the time you arrive, I’ll have been cooking for hours!
On Tuesday, I will have been working here for one year.