Future Perfect Continuous Tense: Structure, Usage, and Practice Exercises

The Future Perfect Continuous Tense is considered one of the most advanced and complex verb tenses in English grammar. Mastering its meaning, structure, usage, and common time expressions will help you avoid mistakes in exams and speak English more confidently.

This article from IDP will give you a detailed explanation of the tense, including its structure, when to use it, how to recognize it in a sentence, and practice exercises to reinforce your knowledge.

The Future Perfect Continuous Tense is used to describe an action that will have started in the past or present and will continue until a specific point in the future. This tense emphasizes the duration of an ongoing action up to a certain time in the future.

Examples:

• By this time next year, I will have been living in this city for 10 years.

• They will have been working on this project for 5 hours by the time we arrive.

2.1 Affirmative Form

Structure: S + will have been + V-ing

Examples:

• I will have been working in this company for 5 years by this time next year.

• She will have been studying piano for two weeks by next week.

• The baby will have been crying for two hours by the time you get home.

2.2 Negative Form

Structure: S + will not have been + V-ing

Examples:

• They will not have been studying for a week by this time tomorrow.

• We will not have been living in this house for ten years by next year.

• She will not have been sleeping for ten hours until tomorrow morning.

2.3 Interrogative Form

Yes/No Questions: Will + S + have been + V-ing? → Yes, S + will. / No, S + will not.

Examples:

• Will they have been waiting for us for a long time when we arrive?

• Will you have been working on this task for five hours by this afternoon?

Wh- Questions: Wh- + will + S + have been + V-ing?

Examples:

• How long will you have been studying English by the end of this year?

• Where will she have been working when you call her?

Usage 1

To describe an action that will be ongoing until a specific time in the future.

Examples:

• By next month, I will have been living in this apartment for two years.

• She will have been studying all night before the exam.

Usage 2

To emphasize the duration of an action in relation to another event in the future.

Examples:

• By the time we get home, the kids will have been playing in the park for two hours.

• He will have been waiting for her for three hours by the time she arrives.

Common time indicators include:

By this + day/month

By this Friday, I will have been working on this report for a week.

By next + time

By next summer, we will have been living here for five years.

By + future time expression

By the end of the year, they will have been traveling for six months.

For + specific duration

She will have been waiting for three hours by the time he arrives.

Next + time

Next week, we will have been studying Japanese for two months.

• Do not use this tense with time clauses like as soon as, if, after, while.... Instead, use the present perfect continuous.

• Stative verbs (e.g., know, love, want) are generally not used in continuous forms, including the future perfect continuous.

• Passive form: S + will have been being + V3 (rarely used)

Example: The house will have been being painted for a week by the time they finish.

Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks with the correct verb form

1. Sam and Quinn will definitely not be exhausted when they get here as they ______________ (drive – negative).

2. Vinita _______________ (walk) around for hours.

3. How long ______ they ______________ (play – question) the guitar next year?

4. Next week, Tharun _________________ (work – negative) for more than a year.

5. In November, Devika _________________ (teach) at this school for three years.

Answers:

1. will not have been driving

2. will have been walking

3. will ... have been playing

4. will not have been working

5. will have been teaching

Exercise 2: Choose the correct answer

1. By the time she graduates, she ________________ three languages. a. has learned b. will have learned c. will have been learning

2. By next week, they ________________ their new house for a month. a. will have built b. will build c. have been building

3. I ________________ for two hours by the time you arrive. a. will have been cooking b. will cook c. cook

4. By the end of the day, he ________________ all his emails. a. will have answered b. will answer c. answers

5. By this time next year, they ________________ in business for five years. a. will be b. will have been c. have been

Answers:

1. c

2. c

3. a

4. a

5. b

Master the Future Perfect Continuous Tense with IDP

This article has provided a complete guide to the Future Perfect Continuous Tense, including usage rules, example sentences, and exercises. Be sure to review this material and visit IDP's free IELTS resources to strengthen your grammar and prepare for the exam with confidence.

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