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:
Comments
This tense is rather difficult to learn and teach.
It's not that direct and usually uncommon to use. Perhaps because it's difficult to both natives and learners of english. Could you give more explanations and examples???
There is a mistake on Furure Perfect Continuous page because interrogative sentence is written as a negative sentence and the negative sentence as an interrogative sentence so the author of this page should swap the examples of negative and interrogative sentences!!!:)
Thanks! It has naturally been fixed :-)
What is the defference from "How long will you have been learning German this year?" from "How long have you been learning German this year?"
Seems the latter is simpler.
i think the latter refers to the passed year..
have long have u been rpresents the present ability that the person is learning german in present from a period
and with will its shows ke till how long will u be learning its indicates the action will be still onin the present