English Grammar | FUTURE PERFECT AND FUTURE PROGRESSIVE | 1. Future perfect
Relatively rare in English, the future perfect serves to express one future action which precedes a
future moment or another future action.
Moreover, it asserts that these actions will be completed before the principal action. It is formed
by adding the modal "will" to the auxiliary "have," preceding the past participle:
She will have finished before eight o'clock.
Tomorrow morning they will all have left.
They will already have finished eating by the time we get there.
One can often use the simple future instead of the future perfect, but a nuance is lost: the simple
future does not emphasize the completion of the first action:
Tomorrow morning they will all leave. (The future perfect would emphasize that they will
already have departed before tomorrow morning.)
They will finish eating by the time we get there. (They may finish just as we arrive; the future
perfect would emphasize that they will have
finished before we arrive.)
2. Future progressive
The future progressive serves to express an action which will be in the process of occurring. It is
formed by putting the present progressive into the future: will be + present participle.
I will be waiting for you at six o'clock.
He will be eating by the time you arrive.
Hint for usage: How to choose between the future progressive and the simple future? If it is
possible to use the expression "will be in the process of," it is the future progressive that best
expresses the action.
The future progressive indicates that an action will be continuing at a given moment; the simple
future suggests that the action will be complete. Thus the verb tense can nuance meaning.
Consider these sentences, both of which are grammatically correct:
I will be finishing my homework at 10:00. (This suggests that I may finish my homework at
10:05 or 10:15; I will be nearing completion, in the
process of completion.)
I will finish my homework at 10:00. (This suggests that I will finish at 10 :00 sharp.
Relatively rare in English, the future perfect serves to express one future action which precedes a
future moment or another future action.
Moreover, it asserts that these actions will be completed before the principal action. It is formed
by adding the modal "will" to the auxiliary "have," preceding the past participle:
She will have finished before eight o'clock.
Tomorrow morning they will all have left.
They will already have finished eating by the time we get there.
One can often use the simple future instead of the future perfect, but a nuance is lost: the simple
future does not emphasize the completion of the first action:
Tomorrow morning they will all leave. (The future perfect would emphasize that they will
already have departed before tomorrow morning.)
They will finish eating by the time we get there. (They may finish just as we arrive; the future
perfect would emphasize that they will have
finished before we arrive.)
2. Future progressive
The future progressive serves to express an action which will be in the process of occurring. It is
formed by putting the present progressive into the future: will be + present participle.
I will be waiting for you at six o'clock.
He will be eating by the time you arrive.
Hint for usage: How to choose between the future progressive and the simple future? If it is
possible to use the expression "will be in the process of," it is the future progressive that best
expresses the action.
The future progressive indicates that an action will be continuing at a given moment; the simple
future suggests that the action will be complete. Thus the verb tense can nuance meaning.
Consider these sentences, both of which are grammatically correct:
I will be finishing my homework at 10:00. (This suggests that I may finish my homework at
10:05 or 10:15; I will be nearing completion, in the
process of completion.)
I will finish my homework at 10:00. (This suggests that I will finish at 10 :00 sharp.
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