How to form the Future Perfect Continuous: table
Four parts: will + have + been + verb-ing, the same for all persons.
| Form | Example |
|---|---|
| Positive | By 6 pm she’ll have been driving for ten hours. |
| Negative | She won’t have been driving for long. |
| Question | How long will she have been driving? |
When to use the Future Perfect Continuous
How long by a future moment
There are almost always two signals: by (which moment) and for (how long).
By next September, I’ll have been teaching for ten years.
When you arrive, we’ll have been waiting for two hours.
The cause of a future situation
She’ll be exhausted — she’ll have been working all day.
Future Perfect Continuous or Future Perfect?
The same logic as the Present Perfect Continuous: the Continuous is how long the activity lasts, the Future Perfect is what will be done and how much.
| Future Perfect Continuous | Future Perfect | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | how long | how much, the result |
| Example | By 5 I’ll have been writing for six hours. | By 5 I’ll have written ten pages. |
In conversation people often say it more simply: In June it’ll be five years since I started working here.
Read more: Future PerfectRead more: Present Perfect Continuous
Common mistakes
What learners of English often say. On the left — the mistake, on the right — the correct version.
Wrong:
By June I will work here for five years.Right: By June I will have been working here for five years.
By + for in the future: Future Perfect Continuous.
Wrong:
She will have being studying.Right: She will have been studying.
Have been, not have being.
Wrong:
By then I’ll have been knowing him for years.Right: By then I’ll have known him for years.
Know is a state verb: Future Perfect.
Check yourself
Quiz: Future tenses
24 questions with an explanation after every answer. Free, no sign-up.
I’ll work · I’m going to work · I’ll be working · I’ll have worked