Form
Affirmative
Subject + will + be + ing form of the verb
- I will be working.
- She will be playing.
Negative
Subject + will + not + be + ing form of the verb
- I will not be working.
- She will not be playing.
Interrogative
Will + subject + be + ing form of the verb
- Will she be working?
- Will they be coming?
The future continuous tense is used to talk about future events that will be in progress at a specific time in the future. We often use this structure to make a contrast between a present event and a future event.
- This time tomorrow I will be lying on the beach.
- This time tomorrow I will be celebrating my birthday.
This is not just a simple statement about what you will be doing tomorrow. It also shows how exciting a future moment will be compared to the present moment.
But of course, we can use the future continuous tense to talk about not-so-exciting moments too.
- This time next week I will be taking my exam.
- This time tomorrow I will be waiting at the doctor’s office.
More examples are given below.
- She will be giving a presentation at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.
We can also use the future continuous tense to make predictions about the present.
- Mother will be cooking dinner now. (Here we are talking about something that might be happening at the moment although the structure used is the future continuous.)
- She will be getting ready for school.
- Don’t call them now. They will be having dinner.
Common time expressions used with the future continuous:
The future continuous tense is commonly used with the following time expressions: while, when, this time tomorrow, this time next week, in the afternoon, next month, next week, next year etc.