Future Progressive Tense in English Grammar

What is the future progressive?

The future progressive tense, also known as the future continuous, expresses an action that will be in progress at a specific moment or time in the future.

The future progressive tense in English grammar is formed with will + be + present participle (ing-form).

Learn how to conjugate affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences in the English future progressive tense with Lingolia, then practise in the interactive exercises.

Contents

Example

—Hey! How’s it going, I thought I’d call so we can discuss the last few details for the holiday.

—Great idea, but I can’t talk just now. Are you free tonight at around 7 o’clock?

—No, don’t call then, we’ll be having dinner. What about Thursday afternoon? I’ll be sitting on the slow train back from London, so I’ll have plenty of time to chat.

—That’s great, I’ll call you then. Just think—this time next week, we’ll be relaxing on the beach in the sunshine! I can’t wait.

When to use the future progressive

We use the English future progressive tense for:

  • an action will already be in progress at a specific moment in the future
    Example:
    Don’t call then, we’ll be eating dinner.
    This time next week, we’ll be relaxing on the beach in the sunshine!

Signal words for the future progressive tense

Signal words can help us know when to use which tense. The signal words for the future progressive are:

  • at 4 o’clock tomorrow
  • this time next week

How to conjugate the future progressive tense

To conjugate the future progressive tense, take: will + be + present participle or ing-form.

The conjugation is that same for all forms.

The table below shows the conjugation of the future progressive tense in affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences.

Affirmative Negative Question
I/you/he/she/it/we/they will be speaking won’t be speaking Will … be speaking?

Present Participle – Spelling Rules

The present participle is generally formed by adding -ing to the base form of a verb. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule:

  • An -e at the end of the word is removed, but -ee, -oe and -ye remain unchanged.
    Example:
    come – coming
    but: agree - agreeing
  • A consonant that follows a short stressed vowel is doubled. However, -w, -x and -y are not doubled.
    Example:
    sit – sitting
    but: mix – mixing
  • An -l as a final consonant after a vowel is always doubled in British English but not in American English.
    Example:
    travel – travelling (British)
    traveling (American)
  • An -ie at the end of the word is replaced with a -y
    Example:
    lie – lying

Contractions

Contractions are a combination of certain pronouns, verbs and the word not. They are mostly used in spoken English and less formal written contexts.

The table below shows the contractions for the future progressive with the verb will.

Long form Contraction Example
will …’ll they’ll
will not won’t
(…’ll not)		 I won’t

Note

In written English, we can only use the contraction …’ll (not) after pronouns, but not after nouns.

Example:
She’ll be having dinner around 7 o’clock.
not: Amina’ll be having dinner

The contraction won’t can be used after both.

Example:
She/Amina won’t be talking to her friend around 7 o’clock.