February 17, 2025

Course on Future Continuous - TOEIC® Preparation

A teacher from top-students.com explaining future continuous in English on a blackboard with chalk. This course is a specialized TOEIC® course designed for excellence in the TOEIC® exam.

The future continuous (also called future progressive) is a tense used to talk about an action that will be in progress at a specific time in the future.

_ will be working tomorrow morning

How to form the future continuous?

The basic structure of the future continuous in English is: will + be + verb-ing

Here is a table summarizing the different forms of the future continuous in English:

Form	Structure	Examples
Affirmative	Subject + will + be + Verb-ing	I will be travelling tomorrow at 8 a.m. He will be running the marathon next weekend. They will be preparing the reports by this afternoon. We will be holding a meeting at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
Negative	Subject + will not (won't) + be + Verb-ing	I will not (won't) be attending the conference next week. He won't be coming to the party tonight. We will not be hiring any new staff this quarter. They won't be staying at the hotel longer than two days.
Interrogative	Will + subject + be + Verb-ing ?	Will you be working from home tomorrow? Will she be using the company car this afternoon? Will they be moving to the new office next month? Will we be discussing the budget in the meeting?

The future continuous to talk about an action in progress at a specific time in the future

The future continuous is used to describe an action that will be ongoing at a specific moment in the future.

At 9 p.m. tomorrow, I will be flying to New York.
This time next week, we will be finalizing the contract.
At noon on Friday, they will be holding a press conference.
On Tuesday morning, I will be reviewing your proposal.

In addition to highlighting that an action will be in progress, the future continuous emphasizes that this same action will occur over a certain duration.

I will be studying all weekend to prepare for the TOEIC®.

The future continuous to talk about a future action considered certain or planned

The future continuous is used to emphasize that an action is planned or that it naturally forms part of the course of events.

Don't worry about dinner; we will be eating at the restaurant tonight.
We will be launching the new product line next quarter.

The future continuous to politely ask someone something

The future continuous is commonly used to politely inquire about someone's plans or to ask for a favor assuming the action might fit into that person's plans.

Will you be speaking with the manager later? If so, could you mention the deadline?
If you will be visiting the client tomorrow, could you deliver these documents?

The future continuous to talk about an action that will be interrupted by another future event (with when, while, etc.)

The future continuous is also used to explain that an action will be in progress when another action occurs in the future.

The future continuous is used for the ongoing action, and the present simple (or simple future) for the action that interrupts or occurs suddenly.

I will be sleeping when you arrive tonight, so please be quiet.
- "Will be sleeping" = ongoing action in the future
- "arrive" = future action that interrupts.
They will be training when the new manager calls.
He will be cooking dinner while I set the table.
We will be working on the project when the deadline is announced.

Future continuous & simple future, which to choose

The simple future often describes a spontaneous decision, an inevitable future fact, or a prediction.

I will answer the phone.
They will visit the office tomorrow.
I will call you later.

The future continuous, on the other hand, emphasizes the progress of the action or its "ongoing" aspect at a given time.

I will be answering the phone at 2 p.m.
They will be visiting the office at around 10 a.m.
I will be calling you at 5 p.m. to discuss your feedback.

Future continuous & « be going to », which to choose?

The future with "be going to" often expresses an intention or a near future but not really the "progressive" or "ongoing" aspect.

I am going to travel to London next week.

The future continuous, on the contrary, emphasizes the action in progress in the future.

At this time next week, I will be travelling to London.

Conclusion

The future continuous is a common form of the future in English and in the TOEIC®. But there are other forms of the future that you must also master, here are the courses on other forms of the future: