Future Perfect Continuous

First time here? You may want to see the list of basic facts about tenses.

We use this tense to express actions that will be happening at a definite moment in the future.

Use
  1. Actions that will be in progress at a definite moment in the future.

 

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By tomorrow I will have been saving money for a new house for 4 years.

Common time expressions used in the Future Perfect Continuous :

  • By tomorrow / 8 o'clock
  • This year / month / week
  • Next year / month / week
Form

Contracted forms (more)

WILL = 'LL

Example: She'll have been = she will have been

WILL + NOT = WON'T

Example: She won't have been = she will not have been


Example: "She will have been dancing" means "she is going to have been dancing"

Declarative sentences:

Subject + Auxiliary verb + Auxiliary verb + Auxiliary verb + Present participle
I/a dog etc. will have been going, doing (verb + ing)

 

  • We will have been driving 6 hours by the time we get home.
  • In the summer Mike will have been trying to find a new job for five months.
  • Jane will be very tired when she comes home, because she will have been flying over 24 hours.
  • My father and I will have been breeding sheep for 20 years tomorrow.
  • By the year 2020, linguists will have been studying and defining the Indo-European language family for more than 200 years.

Note: If duration of an activity (since April, for three hours) is unknown then the Future Continuous should be used instead of the perfect form.

 

Negative sentences:
Subject + Auxiliary verb + Auxiliary verb + Auxiliary verb + Present participle
I/a dog etc. won't have been going, doing (verb + ing)
  • She won't have been writing the book for four months by the end of October.

Negative sentences seem to sound somewhat unnatural. 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 + Present participle ?
Will I/a dog etc. have been going, doing (verb + ing)
  • Will he have been writing the composition for a month by the end of February?

Questions beginning with "how long" are more common:

  • 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!

Check your understanding!

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Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 01/22/2009 - 13:08.

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???

Submitted by Sara (not verified) on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 20:39.

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!!!:)

Admin's picture
Submitted by Admin on Thu, 03/19/2009 - 23:34.

Thanks! It has naturally been fixed :-)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 11/25/2009 - 07:46.

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.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 12/19/2009 - 21:11.

i think the latter refers to the passed year..

Submitted by Aamir Mall (not verified) on Fri, 07/02/2010 - 04:57.

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