The future continuous (will be + ‘ing’ form) and the future perfect (will have + past participle) tenses are used to talk about events in the future.

Future continuous

  • Don’t ring at 8 o’clock. I’ll be watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
  • This time tomorrow we’ll be sitting on the beach. I can’t wait!


  • Don’t phone grandma now, she’ll be having dinner.


Future Perfect












I have some difficulties about how to differentiate between future perfect from future continuous, I don't know when to use each, like for example: ''I probably won't have had much experience'', that's the example they have given me but for me also makes sense '' I probably won't be having much experience''.

And also in the example for future continuous : ''I'll be graduating in two years'' but for me makes sense too ''I'll have graduated in two years'', I've been trying to find a pattern for each time but I haven't been able to find it, for what I know, future continuous is used for ongoing activities in the future and for events you expect to happen meanwhile future perfect is used for events that are in the past when you view them from the future, but still I don't know when to use each.

Hi Cephei,

When we talk about the future we often have several forms which we can use to describe a given situation, and which we choose depends on how we see it and what we want to emphasise. For example, both of the following are possible:

I'll be graduating in two years

I'll have graduated in two years


If you use the second then you are looking back from a point when the graduation is already done. There is no information about when the actual graduation takes place - it could be in a year and a half, in a year, in a year and eleven months etc. The only information we have is that in two years it will definitely already have happened.

If you use the first form then we have more information. In this sentence you are telling us that the actual graduation will be in progress (more or less literally) at a point two years from now.


Which of these forms you choose in this case depends upon non-grammatical questions: your intention, what you wish to emphasise, the context in which you are speaking, the knowledge your interlocutor already has and so on.


Best wishes,


The LearnEnglish Team

Hi, thank you for the article. It's very useful but I still have a question.
What is the difference btwn Future Perfect and Future Simple? For example, what's the difference between 'I'll do it by Friday' and 'I'll have done it by Friday'? Is it just the speaker's level of certainty that the action is to happen? i.e. is it just a prediction in the first sentence and a belief in the second one?
Thank you in advance

Hello omiro,

It's not a difference of certainty, it's more of a different perspective. The future perfect emphasises the completion, whereas 'will' does not. In most situations, there is no strong need to use the future perfect, but you can use it if you want to emphasise completion before a certain point in time.

I hope that helps you.

All the best,
The LearnEnglish Team

Now I see. Thank you!

what the difference between future continuous and going to be
Don’t ring at 8 o’clock. I'm going to be watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
thank you.

Hello Rezaya,

In this case, there is no real difference in meaning between them. In general, 'be going to' is used to speak about a plan or intention and then the continuous infinitive ('be watching') indicates an action in progress. The future continuous has different uses, but probably the main one is to speak about a future event in progress, which is the case here.

All the best,
The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Kirk, sorry to bother you again, but I have a question about the following sentences:
Can you say this:

1 I wish that taxi came soon?
2. I wish you stopped singing?

or should it be said like this:

1 I wish that taxi would come soon?
2. I wish you would stop singing?

Thanks again for all of your help.

Best wishes

Hi Kirk, I hope you are well. I have another question.

Can you tell me the direct and indirect objects in these sentences are as I have stated at the end of each sentence: DO=direct object, IDO= indirect object

1. You should always give a tip to your waiter after a meal. (tip DO & waiter IDO)
2. It's traditional to send your mother a bunch of flowers on Mother's day. (your mother IDO & flowers DO)
3. It's usual for people to offer a seat on the bus to old people. (a seat DO & old people IDO)
4. When guests come to my house for dinner, I like them to bring me a gift. (my house IDO & dinner DO, them DO, me IDO, gift DO)
5. It's best to tell someone the truth if you don't like the food they've cooked. (someone IDO, the truth DO, the food DO, what is they have cooked-a predicate?)
6. It's bad manners to owe money to people who are not in your family. (money DO & people IDO, your family DO)

Let me know if my thoughts are correct. I appreciate all of your help.

Best wishes

Hello Alyson,

In most English grammars, a distinction is made between an indirect object and a prepositional complement, which is a prepositional phrase (usually starting with 'to') that acts as an indirect object. (For an example of this, see this Cambridge Dictionary page.) But if we loosely regard these prepositional complements as indirect objects (that is their function, after all), then you are correct about sentences 1, 2 and 3.

You're also right about 'me' and 'a gift' in sentence 4, but 'to my house' and 'for dinner' are prepositional phrases. Similarly, in sentence 5 you're right about 'someone', 'the truth' and 'the food', but 'that they have cooked' is a relative clause. Finally, in 6 you're right about the first two, but 'your family' is part of the prepositional phrase 'in your family'.

All the best,
The LearnEnglish Team