Welcome to this class on the future perfect continuous tense. This is one of the most
advanced tenses in the English language. So, first of all, congratulations on reaching
this level where you're watching this lesson. It's quite amazing. Feel good. Now, this class
is part of a series on English tenses that's created for you by www.engvid.com . But what
is the future perfect continuous tense, anyway? First of all, it's also called the future
perfect progressive tense. But what is it? When do we use it? How do we use it? Why do
we need to say, "By that time, I will have been working"? Would you like to find out?
So, first of all, we know from the name itself that this tense has something to do with the
future and it has something to do with something continuing, right? Future and continuing.
Let's understand what we mean by that. So, we use this tense to say that something, an
action, will have been going on for a certain period of time. We want to say how long something
will have been going on at a particular time in the future, or before a particular event
in the future. Got that? I'll say it again: we want to understand how long something will
have been going on before a particular time or event in the future. Alright? Let's look
at an example so you can understand more clearly.
So, this is our timeline. This is now, okay, the present. That side is the future, and
this side is the past. So, let's say that I'm imagining what it - I'm here now, right?
It's July. Let's say it's July, and I'm imagining what my life will be like next year in July.
So, I could use this tense to say something like this. By next July - let's suppose you
started working here, okay, in July - so, we could say: By next July, I will have been
working here for one year. Alright? You started your job this July, and we're talking about
what it will be like next July, and you could say, "By next July, I will have been working
here for one year." Okay? That's if you started the job now. But let's suppose you started
the job ten years ago in July, alright? You could still say, "By next July, I will have
been working here for" - how many years? Ten plus one - "for eleven years." "By next July,
I will have been working here for eleven years." So, we're kind of thinking about the future
and saying what will have been continuing at that point in the future. Okay? You will
understand more as we look at more examples and we work through it, okay?
Now, what's the difference though, between saying a sentence in the future perfect continuous
tense, which is what we're learning here, and the future perfect tense, which you might
have learned just before this? Well, let's look. This one, of course, says "By next July,
I will have been working here" - will have been working, that's future perfect continuous.
"I will have been working here for one year." But, in future perfect, we would have said,
"By next July, I will have worked here for one year." So, what's the difference? Is there
a difference? They are similar but there is a difference, okay? When I say, "By next July,
I will have worked here for one year", it's just kind of a fact. It's just the way it
is. But, when I say, "By next July, I will have been working here for one year", the
stress, the emphasis is on how long that is. How the duration of it, and that it kind of
continues. The stress is on the continuation on it and not just that it will have happened,
okay? So, that's a little bit of the difference but again, we'll understand more as we go
Basically, how do we construct this tense? Pretty simple. We just take the subject: I,
you, we, they, he, she, or it, then we have to add these three helping verbs: will have
been, and then we take the verb "work" + ing. Now, you wouldn't just say "I will have been
working", it's part of a full sentence, okay? By next July, by Midnight. Let's suppose you
started working at 6:00 in the morning, and now it's 6:00 in the evening. How many hours
have you worked? Twelve. But let's suppose that you are supposed to work until Midnight.
So, you could say at 6:00 in the evening, "By midnight, I will have been working for
eighteen hours." Wow. I'm going to exhausted. So, in that case, you can understand why the
person is using that, because they want to show that it really lasts for a long time,
and it continues for a long time. Okay? That's the basics of this tense.
Now, let's look at when we can and cannot use this tense. So, we can use the future
perfect continuous to talk about how long something will have been going on at a specific
time in the future. That's one way. What do I mean? Let's look at an example: Next November
- right, that's a specific time in the future - next November, we will have been living
in this house for 15 years. So, let's suppose somebody asks you, "How long have you been
living here?" And you say, "You know what? By next November, we will have been living
here for 15 years, and we still love it here. We love this house, we love this area, we
love this neighborhood. We're very happy." Okay? So, where's the future perfect continuous?
Here: will have been living. Alright? But at a specific time in the future. It will
Now, we can also use it before another action in the future. For example: By the time the
guests arrive - this is the action here - By the time the guests arrive - this is an action
in the future - I will have been cooking all day. So, I will be exhausted. What does it
mean to be exhausted? Very tired, alright? So, this is a specific action in the future.
By that time, when the guests arrive, what? I - and here, we have our future perfect - will
have been cooking, right? I will have been cooking and cooking and cooking and cooking.
The continuity is emphasized by using this tense. How long something happens is emphasized,
okay, by using this tense. Alright?
Next, we also use this tense with certain common expressions, alright? For example,
because why do we need these expressions? Because we have to put it in some kind of
context, right? So, we probably say something like this: by this Saturday, by next month,
by next week, right? Or, without the word "by", you could just say: this week, or next
summer, next winter, okay? It's a time in the future. Or, you could say a year, by 2025.
And very often, you will see the word "for", right? So, you saw it here: for 15 years,
because you're trying to say how long something will have been going on, okay? So, for + the
period of time. For five years, for five months, for five winters, okay? Anything. You can
say anything with "for", as long as it's a period of time. Alright?
And when can we not use this tense? Like all continuous tenses in English, including this
one, we cannot use it with many stative verbs, okay? We cannot use it with many stative verbs.
So, what are stative verbs? Remember, there are two basic kinds of verbs in English. The
dynamic or action verbs, and the stative verbs. And action verbs are like run, work, play,
okay? And stative verbs describe some kind of state or condition. It could be mental,
it could be emotional, or it could be something else, okay? If you check any grammar book,
you will see a long list of stative verbs. For example, some mental stative verbs, which
we cannot use with this tense: know, believe, realize. Some emotional kind of verbs: love,
hate, prefer. Or, some verbs that talk about some kind of ownership, okay? Something you
possess or possession: own, belong. Alright? And there are many more, and some are - some
are sometimes allowed and sometimes not allowed. So, you have to pay attention to that, but
in general, a good rule to remember is that many stative verbs cannot be used with this
continuous tense or with any continuous tense.
Now, let's look at how we form the future perfect continuous tense. Let's start with
the positive sentence first, then we'll look at the negative sentence and the question.
So, for a positive sentence, your basic structure is like this: you take the subject + will
have been + a verb + -ing. Let's look at an example. So, these are the subjects, and the
subject can be any other word as well. I, you, we, they, he, she, it, okay? So, what
would we say? I will have been flying. So, let's take an example. Let's say I'm flying
to Tokyo, and I'm thinking ahead and say, "By the time I arrive in Tokyo, I will have
been flying for 12 hours." Okay? Or, you will have been flying. Say it after me, just so
that you get used to this: We will have been flying. They will have been flying. He will
have been flying. She will have been flying. And, it will have been flying? Maybe the drone?
I don't know, okay? Something. Alright.
Now, for a negative sentence, it's very easy. We're just adding the word "not", okay? I
will not have been flying for 12 hours, actually. You know what? I will have been flying for
14 hours. Okay? So, for the negative, you're just adding "will not have been flying". That's
easy. And again, it's the same. Doesn't matter what the subject is, okay? The pilot will
have been flying. Could be anything.
Next, to form a question. Basically, we're going to start with the "will", then the subject,
then the rest of it. For example: Will I have been flying for - Will I really have been
flying for 12 hours? I'm asking myself. Or, will you have been flying? Will we have been
flying? Will they have been flying? And again, you know, it's part of an entire context,
right? Will he have been flying? Will she have been flying for that long? Okay? And
so on. And very often, the most common question word that we might see before this "will"
is this one: how long will, okay - because now it's not capitalized - how long will you
have been flying by the time you reach Tokyo? 14 hours? Wow. Okay?
So, this is basically how we form this tense.
Now, let's look at how we use contractions with this tense, and also how we pronounce
them. So, we use contractions usually in informal conversation and in informal writing, like
in an email, an informal email. But, if it's formal business writing or if it's academic
writing, then we do not use contractions.
So, let's look at some examples. Let's take a positive sentence first. Let's say, "By
next year, I will have been playing the piano for ten years." Okay? So, we can shorten a
part of this. Instead of saying "I will", we can say "I'll". "I'll have been playing."
You say it. You'll have been playing. We'll have been playing. They'll have been playing.
He'll have been playing. She'll have been playing. And the last one, It'll have been
playing. Now, you may or may not feel comfortable saying the last one. You can always say it
separately, no problem, okay?
Next, what if it's negative? Next year, I will not have been playing the piano for ten
years. I will actually have been playing the piano for 15 years, okay? So, now, how do
we shorten or contract "I will not"? It's a little unusual. We just say "I won't". Say
it after me: I won't. I won't have been playing. You won't have been playing. We won't have
been playing. They won't have been playing. He won't have been playing. She won't have
been playing. And, It won't have been playing. Okay? The reason we're repeating that phrase
again and again is for many reasons. One is to practice your pronunciation. Second is
to practice the grammar and just keep looking at it and saying it. And that will help you
to remember how this tense works.
Now, let's look at some of the spelling changes we have to make to the base form of the verb
when we add -ing. So, for most verbs, all you have to do is add -ing. For example, speak
becomes speaking. All we did was add -ing. Listen - listening. Okay? That's what you
do for the majority of verbs. But there are always some exceptions. Here are a few.
For verbs ending in e, then we have to drop the e and, of course, in all cases, we're
adding -ing. So, let's take this word, "operate". So, it ends with an e. So, what do we do?
We cancel or drop that e and we add -ing. So, operate becomes operating. Arrange becomes
arranging. Okay? That's one change.
Here's another situation. For verbs ending in ie, there we have to drop the - sorry,
drop the ie, add y, and then, of course, add -ing. Let's look at an example: tie - so we're
going to cancel this ie, add a y, and then -ing. So, tie becomes tying. Lie becomes lying.
And here's another situation. Very often, but not always, for verbs ending in c-v-c,
we have to double the last letter. What is c-v-c? If you've been watching our videos
and the different tenses, you will know by now that this is consonant - vowel - consonant.
A vowel in English is A, E, I, O, or U, and the consonants are all the other letters.
So, if you look at a verb, right? Let's take this verb, and to make it easier, look at
it from the end, okay? So, the last letter is a consonant, the p. The next letter is
an o, so it's a vowel. The next letter is a h, so it's a consonant. So, we have this
pattern, right? C-v-c, so then what we do is we usually double the last letter. For
example, "to stop" becomes "shopping". Run becomes running. Now, this doesn't apply in
all verbs that end like this, but it does apply to lots of them. So, remember some of
these spelling changes when you're using this tense.
Now, let's practice this tense together. So, I've written some positive sentences, some
negative ones, and one question. Let's try them together.
Number one: By the time we reach Niagara Falls, we _________________ (drive) for eight hours.
So, how can you change that into the future prefect continuous tense? By the time we reach
Niagara Falls, we will have been driving for eight hours. We will have been driving for
Number two: When he retires next year, he ___________________ (teach) for 25 years.
Another positive sentence, affirmative sentence. What will it be? When he retires next year,
he will have been teaching, right? Okay. Here, we just added -ing. Here, with the verb "drive",
what did we do? We cancelled the e and added the -ing, okay? So, pay attention to those
Number three: Next month, you ______________ (write) this book for two years. Then we have
a negative sentence: You ______________ (not research) any other subject. So, let's take
it step by step. Next month, you ______________ (write) this book for two years. What would
we say? You will have been writing, okay? Again, we're cancelling the e and adding -ing,
okay? You can say, "You will have been writing", or you could say, "You'll", right? Instead
of "you will", you could have contracted it and said, "You'll have been writing", okay.
That would work, too. You'll have been writing this book for two years. Now, we want the
negative. You _____________ (not research) any other subject. So, let's use the contraction
for the negative here. What would it be? You won't have been researching any other subject.
So, let's read the sentence again: Next month, you will have been writing this book for two
years. You won't have been researching any other subject. Okay? Very good.
Let's do number four: Next week, she _________________ (not eat) meat for one year. How do we change
that? Make it negative, remember? She will not have been eating, okay, meat for one year.
Good for you, if you got all that. Next week, she will not have been eating meat for one
Number five: By 1:00pm - first, we're just going to read a sentence, okay? Then we're
going to try to make a question from it. By 1:00pm, the athletes will have been running
for four hours. "Will have been running" is the tense that we're taking about, our future
prefect continuous, okay? How do we make that into a question? How long - let's start with
how long - will they, meaning the athletes, have been running? Okay? So, let's read it
again: By 1:00, the athletes will have been running for four hours. So, if you want to
ask a question: How long will they have been running? Okay? Good for you. You did a great
job. This a challenging tense and you got it.
Now, let's look at some common mistakes that are made with this tense, and let's correct
So, the first one is that, as I mentioned, we cannot use stative verbs with the continuous
tenses or with this tense. But sometimes, people forget that and they might say something
like this: By next year, we will have been knowing their family for 30 years. So, why
is that a mistake? Because "know" is a stative verb, which you should not and cannot use
in that continuous form. So, this sentence would have to be what? By next year, we will
have known their family for 30 years. We will have known, okay? And not, "We will have been
knowing". So here, we needed the future perfect by itself. Okay.
Sometimes, there's a mistake because we have to use this tense in a context, right? We
have to use the context at some time in the future, or before some action in the future.
But sometimes, people forget to mention that and then the tense doesn't make sense by itself.
The only time it makes sense by itself is if someone is asked a question and then all
you are doing is answering, okay? So, if you are answering and you said, "I will have been
studying here for three years", because somebody asked you, "How long will have been studying
here by the time you graduate?" Then it would be okay to say, "I will have been studying
here for three years." But, if somebody has not asked you a question and you're not giving
an answer and by itself, you just say with no time given, "I will have been studying
here for three years", it doesn't mean anything. It sort of doesn't make sense. So, you want
to give it some context. So, maybe you will say: by next summer, by November, by the end
of this year, I will have been studying here for three years. Then it would be okay. So,
let's add something here and we'll say "by November", okay? By November, I will have
been studying here for three years. So, we need that context of time.
We also could have context in terms of an action that will happen in the past - in the
future, right? So, let's look at this sentence: We will have been traveling for 12 hours.
Again, no context unless someone asked you a question. Which, in this case, they didn't.
So, let's give it some context of another action. So, we could say: By the time we reach
Miami, or Dallas, or New York, or anywhere, we - again - we will have been traveling for
12 hours. Okay? Now, it has the reference point of another action. And now, it's fine.
It's absolutely fine. And just in case you're wondering, the word "traveling" can be spelled
in two ways. This is the more North American or American spelling. And the British spelling
So, let's go to the next one, which is, in fact, spelling. Spelling mistakes are common,
so be careful. Let's look here and see if you can find the spelling mistakes. This year,
they will have been guideing tours for ten years. Can you find one spelling mistake there?
This year, they will have been guiding. So, the mistake is here. Why? Because this verb
is "guide", right, by itself? But when we add -ing, what do we need to do? Cancel that
e. So, it would be "guiding tours for ten years".
Let's look at another sentence: Next month, he wont have been smokeing for 20 years. This
sentence has two mistakes. Can you find them? Two spelling mistakes. Next month, he wont
have been smokeing for 20 years. So, one mistake is here. This apostrophe is missing. Now,
it's correct. And, "have been smokeing". Again, "smoke" is a verb which ends with e, so we
need to cancel that e to write "smoking". Okay?
So, these are some of the common mistakes. Be careful of them, of the stative verbs,
the spelling, and make sure you give your sentences some kind of context of time and/or
So, to review, let's look at three last examples of this future perfect continuous tense. The
first one is a positive example: When Sue finishes university, she will have been living
abroad for six years. Right? Here's our tense: will have been living. Okay? Very nice.
Let's look at a negative example: By next week. Sam won't have been working for a year.
Where's the tense? Sam won't have been working, alright?
And the last one: When he retires, how long will Jack have been managing this department?
Where's the tense? Here: will have been managing. Alright?
So, this is basically what you need to understand for this tense, right? When to use it, how
to use it, using the positive sentence, the negative sentence, the question. And this
is an advanced tense. So, it will be very helpful. It's great that you've learned it,
and as you read and as you listen to the news, you'll start to now hear this tense being
used, okay? And you'll feel really good, because you understand exactly what they're trying
to say, alright? So, give yourself a lot of credit for having come this far, for reaching
this high level in terms of your English tenses and in terms of your English, alright?
Now, after this, you can, whenever you're ready, you can go on to watch the next class
in our series. And last of all, if you'd like to do a little more practice on this particular
tense, then just go to www.engvid.com and you can do a quiz on this. Alright? Congratulations