Future Perfect Continuous Tense

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The future perfect continuous is an English verb form used to describe an action that starts in the future and continue up to another time or action in the future. This can be a time or date, or it can be another action. Often a duration is specified for the verb in the future perfect continuous. This verb form alone does not specify if the action will continue after that point.

This is a very rare verb form. Less than .1% of English verbs are in the future perfect continuous. Do not use this verb tense unless you are absolutely certain that it is necessary.

Note that continuous and progressive are just different words for this same thing, so some people call this tense the future perfect progressive.

Keep reading to learn the rules and reasons for using and forming the future perfect continuous, including loads of charts and examples!

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Using the Future Perfect Continuous

Perfect continuous verbs are used to describe an action that has been in progress before another action or point in time, often with a duration specified. With the future perfect continuous, that time is in the future. This can be a time or date (next summer, Saturday at 5, in 2050) or it can be another action in the future.

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Chart for Future Perfect Continuous Tense In English

Here are some example sentences:

By the time I finish my Ph.D., I will have been studying for over 20 years!

Monday is my work anniversary. I'm going to have been working here for a decade!

In these examples, the perfect continuous action (will have been studying, going to have been working) is presented with a duration (over 20 years, a decade) and another action (I finish) or point in time in the future (Monday).

Form

Formula with Will

To form the future perfect continuous, we use the future perfect form of the helping verb be—will have been or going to have been—and the continuous form of the main verb. No matter what the subject is, the verb form is

subject + will have been + VERBing

Conjugation

Here are conjugation tables showing the verb work in the future perfect continuous with will.

Future Perfect Continuous Tense Verb Conjugation with Will

	Singular		Plural
1st person	I	will have been working.	we	will have been working.
2nd person	you	will have been working.	you	will have been working.
3rd person	he	will have been working.	they	will have been working.
	she	will have been working.
	it	will have been working.

Formula with Going to

Because forming the future tenses with going to is more complex and wordy, we almost never form the future perfect continuous with going to. In the rare situation that we might use it, the form is

subject + am/is/are + going to have been + VERBing

Conjugation

Here is a conjugation table:

Future Perfect Continuous Tense Verb Conjugation with Will

	Singular		Plural
1st person	I	am going to have been working.	we	are going to have been working.
2nd person	you	are going to have been working.	you	are going to have been working.
3rd person	he	is going to have been working.	they	are going to have been working.
	she	is going to have been working.
	it	is going to have been working.

Other Forms

Questions

In the future perfect continuous, you have more than one helping verb. To make a question, move the subject after the first helping verb, will, but before the second helping verb, have. Again, please keep in mind that these forms are extremely rare, and these examples sound very unnatural in English; we share them only to help students understand the patterns of the language.

At what point will you have been acting for 20 years?

When will they have been playing this game for too long?

Negative Sentences

You can form a negative by inserting not between the first helping verb will and the second helping verb have. For example:

In January, we will not have been living in California for 20 years.

But notice that the negative form is ambiguous. It is unclear which part of the sentence we are negating. Are we living someplace other than California? Has it just not been 20 years yet? This is a good reason to avoid making negative sentences in the future perfect continuous.

The Passive Voice

If for some reason you need to make a passive sentence in the future perfect continuous, use be in the future perfect continuous (will have been being) and then the perfect form of the main verb. As you can see in the following example, this is awkward and confusing

Next year the house will have been being renovated for 5 years.

We do not recommend making future perfect continuous passive sentences.

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Most Common English Verb Tenses

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English Verb Form Frequency

We spend a lot of time in English class studying all the different verb tenses. I can't tell you how many times my students have asked me, "How often do we really use the future perfect progressive?" My answer is usually that it is very rare, but it's meaningful, and it can be helpful to understanding how the past perfect progressive works as well. But that really is a good question:

How often do we use each verb tense in English?

This is an important question because there are 12 different verb tenses in English, and you want to study strategically, learning the most valuable ones!

Let's start by saying that there is no one answer. As you may know, the English we use for speaking is different from the English we use in writing. There are many different situations to be speaking or writing in, and in each of those situations we would see different verb frequencies. Even from person to person, our individual speaking style might lead one person to use, for example, the present tense more often than another person. We can, however, observe some useful patterns.

The 5 Most Commonly used English Verb Tenses

If you are looking for a quick answer, here it is:

5 Most Common English Verb Tenses

#	Tense	Frequency
1	Simple Present	57.51%
2	Simple Past	19.7%
3	Simple Future	8.5%
4	Present Perfect	6.0%
5	Present Continuous	5.1%

Some quick insights from the top 5:

• The simple present accounts for more than half of the verbs used in English speech

• The 5 most commonly used verb tenses total up to over 95% of usage

• The simple tenses are the top three verb tenses

For a more in-depth analysis, read on!

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The Source Material

For this post, we looked at an interesting research study by Krámský (1969). We have also updated this article to include findings from Alzuhairy (2016). Krámský took several different samples of three different styles (or registers) of English—novels, plays, and specialized (academic and technical) texts. He analyzed 20,000-word samples from each text, counting each form of each verb, and sharing all his data.

The results are complex, and grouped in ways that might not be too helpful, but I have tried to regroup them and show them in charts that are more useful for language teachers and learners.

Before we look at some of those patterns, I want to include a caveat, or warning. When compared to all the language in the world, Krámský's sample is actually very, very small. Ideally, we would get this information from a larger base of language called a corpus, like the Corpus of Contemporary American English. Unfortunately, information of this kind is currently difficult (if not impossible) to get from most corpora. Still, the general proportions and patterns that Krámský found should be fairly accurate. The one other warning is that the texts Krámský used as samples of spoken (or colloquial) English are actually plays, written to sound like spoken English. It is very possible that examples of actual spoken English would be different from the language found in the plays.

Ok, now let's get to the fun stuff!

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Verb Tense Frequency

First, I've broken each text type down by verb tense: past, present, and future:

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As you can see, there are some big differences between different text types. Spoken English is mostly in the present tense (68.9%), but fiction is mostly past tense (57.6%). Specialized texts overwhelmingly use the present tense (87.1%).

This makes a lot of sense. In fiction, we generally tell stories that take place before: first this happened, then that happened, then that happened. When we speak, though, we talk a lot more about what we think and feel and like, what we do, who people are, our experiences and all of these things are expressed in the present tense. In specialized texts, we are often writing about things that are generally true, and here again, we use the present tense a lot.

The future tense is less used in all text types: 9% in speech, 2% in fiction, and 4% in specialized texts.

This table breaks down each tense by frequency in all three text types:

5 Most Common English Verb Tenses

Tense	Speech	Frequency	Specialized
Present	68.9%	40.3%	87.1%
Past	22.4%	57.6%%	8.7%
Future	8.7%	2.1%	4.3%

Verb Aspect Frequency

The tenses are easy enough—past, present, future—but the really tricky thing about learning English verbs is the four aspects: simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive. Thankfully, there isn't as much difference between the different styles of English when it comes to aspect. Take a look:

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The charts look generally the same. In every style of English, the simple aspect—simple present, simple past, and simple future—makes up over 85% of verbs that we use. The lesser-used aspects all fall in the same order: after simple, it's perfect, then progressive, then perfect progressive gets a tiny little sliver of use. Biber and Reppen (2002) confirm this pattern, observing that the simple aspect is “more than 20 times as common as progressive in conversation.” (p. 204, cited in Alzuhairy (2016).

Alzuhairy (2016) studied academic texts in particular. The same general pattern applies, but simple present only accounts for about 50% of verbs in Alzuhairy’s findings.

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Most Used Tenses and Aspects

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5 verb forms make up 96% of all verbs in spoken English.

I think this may be one of the most useful insights from Krámský's work for teachers and students. Although there are 12 tense/aspect combinations in English, 5 of these cover around 96% of spoken English.

Notice that the simple present alone accounts for 57% of verbs. Next is the simple past (19.7%), then simple future (8.5%), followed by present perfect (6.0%) and then present progressive (5.1%). If you want to know which verb tenses to learn first, these five will definitely give you the most bang for your buck!

The remaining 7 tense/aspect combinations are each under 1.5% of spoken English verbs. Of course, it is valuable to learn all the combinations, but if you want to prioritize the most useful verb tenses, this should be helpful.

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Active and Passive Voice

The passive voice is another of those constructions that challenges students and leads to the question, how useful is this? Well, again, Krámský's work gives us some idea how useful they are. Here is a breakdown of active and passive constructions in the three registers: 

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The vast majority of verbs in English are in the active voice.

It is not surprising that the vast majority of verbs are active. The most important takeaways that I see are these: 97.5% of verbs in spoken English are active, but the passive voice is much more common in specialized and academic texts, in which only 82.2% of sentences are active.

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Complete Table of Most Used Verb Tenses in English

Most Common English Verb Tenses

#	Tense	Frequency
1	Simple Present	57.51%
2	Simple Past	19.7%
3	Simple Future	8.5%
4	Present Perfect	6.0%
5	Present Continuous	5.1%
6	Past Continuous	1.4%
7	Past Perfect	1.2%
8	Present Perfect Continuous	0.7%
9	Future Perfect	0.2%
10	Future Continuous	>0.1%
11	Past Perfect Continuous	>0.1%
12	Future Perfect Continuous	>0.1%

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Contractions with Two Meanings

Lots of contractions!

Contractions are two words put together in a shorter form. We use lots of contractions in English: isn't (is not) doesn't (does not), didn't (did not), can't (cannot), won't (will not). I'm (I am), you're (you are), we're (we are). There are tons of them!

Confusing contractions

Apostrophe -s

But let's (let us!) talk about some tricky contractions. Contractions with apostrophe -s ('s) and apostrophe -d ('d) are difficult because they have two meanings. Think about it: what does he's mean? Look at these two sentences:

He's studying English.

He's visited England.

In the first sentence, he's means he is. In the second sentence, he's means he has. When we see 's it can mean either has or is. 

Apostrophe -d

I'd been working for hours.

I'd like a glass of champagne.

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Future Perfect Tense

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The future perfect is an English verb form used to describe actions that will be complete at a particular moment in the future. This can be a time or date, or it can be another action.

This is not a common verb form. Less than .1% of English verbs are in the future continuous.

Keep reading to learn the rules and reasons for using and forming the future continuous, including loads of charts and examples!

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Using the Future Perfect

Perfect verb tenses are used to describe an action that is complete before another action or point in time. With the future perfect, that time is in the future. This can be a time or date (next weekend, tomorrow at 5, on November 3rd) or it can be another action in the future.

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Chart for Future Perfect Tense In English

Here are some example sentences:

The skyscraper isn't completely built yet, but when I go in June, they will have finished it.

You can come over at 8. We will have eaten dinner by then.

In these examples, the perfect action (will have finished, will have eaten ) will be complete before the other specific action (when I go in June) or time (at 8).

Forming the Future Perfect

Formula with Will

To form the future perfect, we use the future form of the helping verb have—will have—and the perfect form of the main verb. No matter what the subject is, the verb form is:

subject + will have + perfect VERB

Conjugation

That means the conjugation chart is really easy!

Future Perfect Tense Verb Conjugation with Will

	Singular		Plural
1st person	I	will have worked.	we	will have worked.
2nd person	you	will have worked.	you	will have worked.
3rd person	he	will have worked.	they	will have worked.
	she	will have worked.
	it	will have worked.

Formula with Going to

Because forming the future tenses with be going to is more complex and wordy, we almost never form the future perfect with be going to. In the rare situation that we might use it, the formula is:

subject + am/is/are + going to have + perfect VERB

Conjugation

Here is a conjugation table for the verb work with going to.

Future Perfect Tense Verb Conjugation with Going To

	Singular		Plural
1st person	I	am going to have worked.	we	are going to have worked.
2nd person	you	are going to have worked.	you	are going to have worked.
3rd person	he	is going to have worked.	they	are going to have worked.
	she	is going to have worked.
	it	is going to have worked.

Other Forms

Questions

In the future perfect, you have more than one helping verb. To make a question, move the subject after the first helping verb, will, but before the second helping verb, have.

Will you have eaten by 8?

Will they have finished the construction by the end of the year?

Will she have completed her degree by that time?

What will they have accomplished with this senseless war?

When will they have made a decision?

Negative Sentences

To form a negative, insert not between the first helping verb will and the second helping verb have. Here are some examples.

I will not have eaten by 8.

They will not have finished the construction by the end of the year.

She will not have completed her degree yet.

The Passive Voice

Making a passive sentence in the future perfect is extremely complex and extremely rare. We do not recommend making future perfect passive sentences. If for some reason you do need to make a passive sentence in the future perfect, use be in the future perfect (will have been) and then the perfect form of the main verb. 

The package will have been delivered by Friday afternoon.

All the food will have been eaten by the time we get there.

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3 Types of -ing Verb

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Ready for some challenging academic grammar?

English grammar can be difficult because sometimes the same word works differently in different situations. This is true for -ing verbs, which can do three different things.  

Let's look at the 3 types:

Three types of -ing verb

CONTINUOUS VERBS

The man is walking.

This is the most basic one: a present continuous verb. The subject in the sentence is "man" and "is walking" tells us what he is doing right now. If you see an -ing verb after a be verb (am, is, are, was, were), it is probably a continuous verb.

Another name for continuous verbs is progressive verbs.  Continuous and progressive mean the same thing.

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PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVES

The walking man lives with my friend Paul.

The man walking across the street lives with my friend Paul.

In both of these sentences, walking  works like an adjective, not a verb. Walking describes the man, and the verb in the sentence is lives. When an -ing verb describes a noun, we call it a participial adjective. Participial adjectives can come before or after the noun, but it is more common to put them after the noun. 

Read a little more about participial adjectives here.

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GERUNDS

The man likes walking.

In this sentence, we have a subject: the man. We have a verb: likes . What is the -ing verb here? It's the thing that the man likes. What does he like? Walking. Walking is the object of like. What are some other things you can like? Sports, travel, English. All nouns. Object of verbs are nouns, so walking is acting as a noun here. That's what a gerund is: an -ing verb that works like a noun. 

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Future Continuous Tense

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The future continuous (also called the future progressive) is an English verb form used to describe actions that will be in progress at a particular moment in the future.   This can be a time or date, or it can be another action.

This is not a common verb form. Less than .1% of English verbs are in the future continuous.

Keep reading to learn the rules and reasons for using and forming the future continuous, including loads of charts and examples!

It is important to realize that continuous and progressive are different names for the same thing. In some places, progressive is more common, but continuous is a more common term overall.

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USing the Future continuous

When we see a continuous verb, it tells us that something is in progress at a particular time. With the future continuous, that time is in the future. This can be a time or date (next weekend, tomorrow at 5, on November 3rd) or it can be another action in the future.

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Chart for Future Continuous Tense In English

Here are some example sentences:

Don’t call her at 8. She will be flying to Denver then.

I will probably be running when you come home.

Try to be quiet when you come home tonight. Everyone will be sleeping.

In these examples, the continuous action (will be flying, will be running) will start before the other specific action (come home) or time (at 8), and continued after that action or time.

We can also use the future continuous to show that a future action will continue over a period of time.

I’m going to be studying all next week.

We will be traveling for most of 2019.

Forming the Future continuous

There are two options for forming the future continuous: will or going to.

Formula With Will

To form the future continuous with will, use will be and the continuous form of the verb, with -ing.

subject + will be + VERBing

Conjugation with Will

Here is a complete conjugation table:

Future Continuous Tense Verb Conjugation with Will

	Singular		Plural
1st person	I	will be working.	we	will be working.
2nd person	you	will be working.	you	will be working.
3rd person	he	will be working.	they	will be working.
	she	will be working.
	it	will be working.

Formula With Going To

To form the future continuous with going to, you need to use the correct present form of the verb to be (am/is/are). Then use going to be. Then use the -ing form of the verb.

subject + am/is/are + going to be + VERBing

Conjugation with Going to

Here is the going to conjugation table:

Future Continuous Tense Verb Conjugation with Going To

	Singular		Plural
1st person	I	am going to be working.	we	are going to be working.
2nd person	you	are going to be working.	you	are going to be working.
3rd person	he	is going to be working.	they	are going to be working.
	she	is going to be working.
	it	is going to be working.

Other Forms

Questions

In the future continuous, you have more than one helping verb. To make a question, move the subject after the first helping verb (be or will).

Will you be eating out tonight?

When will you be arriving in Philadelphia?

Are you going to be sleeping when I get home?

What are you going to be reading next semester?

Negative Sentences

To form a negative, insert not after the first helping verb (be or will).

I will not be eating out tonight.

She will not be running.

We are not going to be reading Nabokov.

I am not going to be sleeping when you get home.

The Passive Voice

Making a passive sentence in the future progressive is extremely complex and extremely rare. In the conventional passive, putting be in the future progressive results in the unnatural combination of be and being: …will be being… or …going to be being…

For this reason, we recommend using the get passive in the future progressive. Put get in the future progressive (is going to be getting, are going to be getting, will be getting) and then the perfect form of the main verb.

We are going to be getting picked up by my mom.

If we miss another payment, we’ll be getting kicked out!

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