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Future Perfect Continuous
Examples
- By the next year, I will have been working as a teacher for 30 years.
- We will be making a rest stop in half an hour, because you will have been driving the car for 6 hours by then.
We use the Future Perfect Continuous tense to express situations that will last for a specified period of time at a definite moment in the future. We also use this tense to express certainty about the cause of some future situation.
Use
- Duration at a definite moment in the future
- Cause of a future situation
USE 1: Duration
We use this tense to express situations that will last for a specified period of time at a definite moment in the future. It is important that we expect these situations to last longer.
Examples:
- Before they come, we will have been cleaning the house for 5 hours.
- By the next year, Ben and his wife will have been living together for 50 years.
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Common Time Expressions
Time expressions that are commonly used with the Future Perfect Continuous:
- By tomorrow / 8 o'clock
- This year / month / week
- Next year / month / week
USE 2: Cause
English speakers also use this tense when they want to express certainty about the cause of some future situation.
Examples:
- By this time, he will have been working for 12 hours, so he will be very tired.
- We will be making a rest stop in half an hour, because you will have been driving the car for 6 hours by then.
Form
Contracted forms (more)
Positive Sentences
| Subject | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Verb + ing |
| e.g. I/a dog etc. | will | has/have | been | e.g. eating/giving/going etc. |
| Examples | Use | |
 |
We will have been driving 6 hours by the time we get home. | (Use 1) |
|
In the summer Mike will have been trying to find a new job for five months. | (Use 1) |
|
Jane will be very tired when she comes home, because she will have been flying over 24 hours. | (Use 1) |
|
My father and I will have been breeding sheep for 20 years tomorrow. | (Use 1) |
|
By the year 2020, linguists will have been studying and defining the Indo-European language family for more than 200 years. | (Use 1) |
Note
If duration of an activity (e.g. "since April", "for three hours") is unknown then the Future Continuous should be used instead of the Perfect Form.
Example:
- I will be taking a bath.
I will have been taking a bath.
Negative Sentences
| Subject | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Verb + ing |
| e.g. I/a dog etc. | will | have | been | e.g. eating/giving/going etc. |
| Examples | Use | |
|
She won't have been writing the book for four months by the end of October. | (Use 1) |
Note
Negative sentences sound rather unnatural. This is probably because the answer to a question like, "Will she have been teaching for 30 years this year?", would simply be, "No, I don't think so".
Questions
| Auxiliary verb | + | Subject | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Verb + ing |
| will | e.g. I/a dog etc. | have | been | e.g. eating/giving/going etc. |
- How long will you have been learning German this year?
- How long will you have been trying to get your driving license this week? I hope you'll finally make it!
| Examples | Use | |
|
Will he have been writing the composition for a month by the end of February? | (Use 1) |
Good to know...
Questions beginning with "how long" are more common.
Examples: