Future continuous: the quick answer
The future continuous, also called the future progressive, uses subject + will be + verb-ing: At 9 p.m., I will be watching a movie. It presents an activity as ongoing at a future time. It can also describe an expected event or ask about someone's plans. It does not require a prior arrangement or make a prediction certain.
Check the formula, compare the uses, choose between future forms, or try ten exercises with explained answers.
Future continuous formula: positive, negative and questions
Use the same will be pattern with I, you, he, she, it, we and they. Do not change be to am, is or are after will.
| Form | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | Subject + will be + verb-ing | They will be traveling during August. |
| Negative | Subject + will not be + verb-ing | She will not be working on Saturday. |
| Yes/no question | Will + subject + be + verb-ing? | Will you be waiting outside? |
| WH-question | Question word + will + subject + be + verb-ing? | Where will they be staying? |
| Short answer | Yes, subject + will. / No, subject + won't. | Yes, I will. / No, I won't. |
I'll, you'll and they'll are contractions of subject + will; won't means will not. Both full and contracted forms are grammatical. A subject question has no separate subject after will: Who will be presenting?
Check the spelling of the main verb: work → working, write → writing, sit → sitting. Travelling is the usual British spelling; traveling is usual in American English. The Cambridge future-continuous reference gives the form and its ongoing-future use.
When do we use the future continuous?
1. An activity in progress at a future time
Don't call me around 1 p.m.; I will be having lunch then. The speaker presents lunch as underway at that time. Compare I will have lunch at 1, which can give the planned lunch time without focusing on its progress. Neither sentence is inherently more fluent.
- This time tomorrow, we will be flying over the Atlantic.
- At 10 a.m. tomorrow, I will be meeting with the client.
- At 3 p.m., I will still be working on the report.
2. An expected or temporary future activity
I'll be working from home next week describes the expected situation for that period. It can fit an arrangement, a routine or a temporary change; the grammar alone does not prove that a booking or agreement exists. For example, They'll be taking the bus while their car is being repaired presents a temporary travel routine.
The British Council's future-forms guide covers both actions in progress and temporary future situations.
3. A prediction about what will be happening
Yes, the future continuous can make predictions. I think it will be raining when we leave predicts rain in progress at our departure time. It is not a planned action, and the speaker could be wrong. I think it will rain tomorrow makes a broader prediction without that ongoing viewpoint.
EF's grammar reference includes future-continuous predictions and guesses, as well as questions about expected events.
4. A question about someone's plans
Will you be using the car this evening? asks about an expected use of the car. This can be a considerate way to check availability before asking to borrow it. Tone and context still matter: a continuous form does not automatically make a question polite, and Will you use the car? is not automatically a demand.
- Will she be presenting her findings at the meeting?
- Will they be staying with you during their visit?
5. Activities that overlap
Tomorrow evening, I will be cooking while the children are doing their homework. In a future-time clause introduced by while or when, normally use a present form for the time reference: She will be giving her presentation when the visitors arrive. See Cambridge's time-conjunction guidance.
This is a rule about time clauses, not every occurrence of when. A direct question can be When will they arrive?
Future continuous vs future simple and future perfect
Choose the form for the viewpoint you need. A simple will sentence can express a prediction, offer, promise or decision; it does not always mean an action is completed. The future perfect looks back from a future reference point.
| Form | Example | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Future simple: will + base verb | I will write the report on Friday. | The future action, without presenting a moment during its progress. |
| Future continuous: will be + verb-ing | At 5 p.m. on Friday, I will be writing the report. | Writing in progress at 5 p.m. |
| Future perfect: will have + past participle | By 5 p.m. on Friday, I will have written the report. | The completed report by that deadline. |
At and by are useful meaning clues, not automatic tense selectors. The lesson will start at 5 and I will finish by 5 are also grammatical. Ask whether the intended message concerns an event, ongoing activity or a result by a deadline.
Common mistakes: check form and meaning
- Missing be: change She will working late to She will be working late. After will, keep the base form be.
- Using a continuous form for a state: for knowing an answer, normally use I will know the answer tomorrow, not will be knowing. Verb meaning matters: I'll be having lunch describes an activity, while I'll have a new laptop can describe possession. The British Council's stative-verb guide explains this state/action distinction.
- Confusing an offer with a description: if someone says the printer is out of paper, I'll get some is an ordinary immediate offer. I'll be getting some paper later can instead describe an expected activity. The second pattern is not universally ungrammatical; it communicates something different.
- Assuming certainty: a weather prediction with will be raining is still a prediction. The continuous form does not guarantee the forecast.
Ten future-continuous exercises with explained answers
Follow each instruction: some questions name a form, while others ask you to choose a meaning. Write your answer before opening its explanation. These original exercises are free to use here without an account; printing this page hides the keys and leaves writing space.
Tomorrow, I plan to study from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Complete with the future continuous: “At 9 a.m., I ___ (study).”
Show answer and explanation
will be studying. Nine o'clock falls inside the planned study period. The answer presents the activity as underway then.
Lea will be on holiday tomorrow. Complete with the negative future continuous: “She ___ (not work) tomorrow afternoon.”
Show answer and explanation
will not be working or won't be working. Put not after will; retain be before working.
You want to check Ben's plans for the shared printer. Make a future-continuous question with “you / use / the printer / at 2 p.m.”
Show answer and explanation
Will you be using the printer at 2 p.m.? Put will before you. The question checks his expected use; it does not itself ask him to stop.
Express a prediction about rain in progress at noon, using the future continuous: “I think it ___ (rain) at noon.”
Show answer and explanation
will be raining. This is a prediction about an ongoing situation. Will rain can also make a prediction, but does not supply the continuous form requested.
Use the future perfect to emphasize completion by a deadline: “By noon, we ___ (finish) the recording.”
Show answer and explanation
will have finished. The requested form presents completion by noon. Will finish by noon is also a valid sentence, but uses the future simple rather than the named form.
Use the present continuous in the future-time clause: “I will be checking the microphones while Mei ___ (prepare) the music.”
Show answer and explanation
is preparing. The while clause supplies the time of the other activity. Prepares can also work here, but is present simple; this item asks for present continuous.
Choose the usual form for a state of knowledge: “After the results arrive tomorrow, I will know / will be knowing whether I passed.”
Show answer and explanation
will know. Here know describes having information. We do not normally present that meaning as an activity in progress.
Your colleague drops a box. Choose the ordinary immediate offer: “I'll help / I'll be helping you pick those up.”
Show answer and explanation
I'll help. This directly offers help now. I'll be helping could describe expected participation in another context; it is not the ordinary offer in this exchange.
Repair the form without changing the ongoing meaning: “She will waiting outside when the doors open.”
Show answer and explanation
She will be waiting outside when the doors open. Add be after will. Open is a present form in the future-time clause.
“At 4 p.m., Omar will be writing the final paragraph.” Does this sentence say that the paragraph will already be complete at 4 p.m.? Explain.
Show answer and explanation
No. It presents the writing as in progress then. To present it as complete by 4 p.m., say Omar will have written the final paragraph by 4 p.m. The original sentence does not specify his finishing time.
Apply it: explain tomorrow's recording schedule
Use this fictional community-radio plan. Rosa records an interview from 2:00 to 2:20 p.m., then edits it from 2:20 to 3:00. Sam checks equipment from 2:00 to 2:45. Assume the activities follow the schedule.
- Describe what Rosa and Sam will be doing at 2:10.
- Use the future perfect to describe Rosa's completed editing by 3:15.
- You want to speak to Rosa at 2:30. Ask a future-continuous question about her editing.
Show possible answers and teacher checks
- At 2:10, Rosa will be recording an interview and Sam will be checking equipment.
- By 3:15, Rosa will have finished editing the interview.
- Will you be editing the interview at 2:30, Rosa?
Accept wording that preserves the people, activities and times. If a learner gives a grammatical answer in a different form, discuss its meaning before asking for the named form. Follow up with a different schedule to check whether the learner can make the distinction again.
Common questions
Can I use the future continuous for predictions?
Yes. I expect we'll be waiting outside when the bus arrives predicts an ongoing situation. The event need not be arranged or certain.
Is “going to be working” different from “will be working”?
Both can describe future activity in progress. Going to can highlight an existing intention or present evidence; will be can present what the speaker expects. There is overlap, so choose for the context rather than treating one as a formal version of the other. The underlying be + -ing still supplies the continuous viewpoint. See Cambridge's explanation of going to and will.
Is future continuous a separate English tense?
“Future continuous tense” is a common teaching label. In a structural description, will is a modal auxiliary followed by be and the -ing form. Both descriptions point to the same pattern learners need to build.
Choose your next practice task
For a broader contrast, use the verb-tense exercises with explained alternatives. Review the auxiliary-verb chart if will or be is missing from your sentences. Teachers can preview the listed Future Continuous topic in the online grammar-practice guide before using the current assignment controls. These public exercises are separate from that platform library; a recorded score alone does not explain a learner's reasoning.
Sources and editorial note
The Kingdom of English revised this guide with AI assistance and checked the linked Cambridge, British Council and EF grammar references on October 21, 2026. The exercises and recording schedule were written for this page; they are not a validated assessment. The revision corrects the earlier prohibition on predictions, qualifies planning and stative-verb rules, and removes unsupported research percentages. See our editorial approach and corrections information.