Future Continuous

will be + present participle, ie. -ing

am/is/are + going to be + present participle, ie. -ing

Interrupted Action in the Future.

I will be working when she arrives tonight.

Specific Time as an Interruption in the Future

At 11 am, I am going to be eating lunch.

Parallel Actions in the Future

I am going to be watching and Kate is going to be making breakfast.

Content

Future continuous forms:
Future Continuous with "Will"
Future Continuous with "Be Going To "
Interrupted Action in the Future.
Specific Time as an Interruption in the Future
Future continuous versus simple future tense.
Parallel Actions in the Future
No Future tenses used with Time Clauses
Non-Continuous Verbs / Mixed Verbs
Position of Adverbs.
Active / Passive

1. Future continuous forms:

The Future continuous has two different forms:

will be doing
be going to be doing

Unlike Simple Future forms with the Future Perfect Continuous forms it does not usually matter which form you use.

2. Future Continuous with "Will"

Tvar: will be + present participle, ie. -ing

You will be waiting for him when his train arrives tonight.
Will you be waiting for him when his train arrives tonight?
present participle
You will not be waiting for him when his train arrives tonight.

3. Future Continuous with "Be Going To "

Tvar: am/is/are + going to be + present participle, ie. -ing

You are going to be waiting for him when his train arrives tonight.
Are you going to be waiting for him when his train arrives tonight?
You are not going bo be waiting for him when his train arrives tonight.

4. Interrupted Action in the Future.

Use the Future Continuous to show that a longer action in the future will be interrupted by a shorter action in the future. Remember this can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time.

I will be working when she arrives tonight.
I will be waiting for you when your train arrives.
I am going to be staying at the Hilton hotel, just in case anything happens and zou need to contact me.
She will be studying this afternoon, so she will not see Paula when she arrives

Notice in the examples above that the interruptions are in the Simple Present rather than Simple Future. This is because the interruptions are in time clauses, and you cannot use future tenses in time clauses.

5. Specific Time as an Interruption in the Future

In the first use, described above, the Future Continuous is interrupted by a short action in the future. In addition to using short actions as interruptions, you can also use a specific time as an interruption.

At 11 am, I am going to be eating lunch.
I will be in the process of eating lunch.
At midnight tonight, we will still be driving home from holiday.
We will be in the process of driving home.

6. Future continuous versus simple future tense.

In the Simple Future, a specific time is used to show the time an action will begin or end. In the Future Continuous, a specific time interrupts the action.

At 11 am, I am going to eat lunch.
I am going to start eating at 11 am.
At 11 am, I am going to be eating lunch.
I am going to start earlier and I will be in the process of eating lunch at 11 am.

7. Parallel Actions in the Future

When you use the Future Continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it expresses the idea that both actions will be happening at the same time. The actions are parallel.

I am going to be watching and Kate is going to be making breakfast.
Tonight, they will be eating dinner talking about their holiday, and drinking red wine.
While Simon is reading, Paula will be watching television.

Notice "is reading" because of the time clause containing "while." – see time clause explantion below.

8. No Future tenses used with Time Clauses

Like all future tenses, the Future Continuous cannot be used in clauses beginning with time expressions such as: when, while, before, after, by the time, as soon as, if, unless, etc.
Instead of Future Continuous, we use the Present Continuous is used. The reason for this is that time expressions already refer to the future so it is not necessary to use “going to”.

While I am going to be finishing my project, she is going to make dinner. Incorrect
While I am finishing my project, she is going to make dinner. Correct

9. Non-Continuous Verbs / Mixed Verbs

Some English verbs usually do not form a continuous tense, hence the name - non-continuous verbs. These include for example the verbs "to love", "to like" or "to belong".

Other English verbs have several meanings, one of which usually do not form a continuous time. These are called mixed verbs. These include for example the verbs "to have" or "to be".

If these verbs occur in a sentence, where we normally would use the future continuous tense, we must replace it with the future simple.

Kate will be being at my office when you arrive. Incorrect
Kate will be at my office when you arrive. Correct

10. Position of Adverbs.

The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc.

You will still be waiting for him when his train arrives.
Will you still be waiting for him when his train arrives?
You are still going to be waiting for him when his train arrives.
Are you still going to be waiting for him when his train arrives?

11. Active / Passive

At 6 pm this evening, John will be washing the dishes. Active
At 6 pm this evening, the dishes will be being washed by John. Passive
At 6 pm this evening, John is going to be washing the dishes. Active
At 6 pm this evening, the dishes are going to be being washed by John. Passive

Passive forms of the Future Continuous are not common.

English Grammar