Future Perfect Continuous Verb Tense

Also Known As: Future Perfect Progressive Tense

The next tense is the future perfect continuous tense, which is also sometimes called the future perfect progressive tense. It indicates that something has started in the past and will continue happening for a set length of time into the future. This is noted in the form of “Will have been (verb)+ing.”

This may seem complicated! It really isn’t though. The future progressive perfect tense uses the words “will+have+been+ (ing verb). “I will have been practicing for a triathlon for six months next March.” “Will have been practicing” is the future perfect continuous form of the verb “practice.” “Will be” combined with the present participle to form the future continuous phrase indicating that the marathon will take place sometime in the future, but has not been fulfilled yet.

There are several common uses for the future perfect progressive or the future perfect continuous tense. We will discuss each of these in detail and give examples below.

The future perfect progressive makes use of two overlapping time periods or it implies a prediction that will be fulfilled at some point in the future. At a certain point, the prediction will have been happening for a period of time. The future perfect progressive can imply that something is going to happen.

To Form the Future Perfect Progressive Tense

All future perfect progressive deals with potential action that takes place in the future. It is in reference to an action that is happening, ongoing, and continuous that has not yet been completed, but has a marking point in the future to answer the question “how long.”

The potential actions have not yet taken place. The phrasing of the sentence indicates overlapping actions or it indicates a prediction of the potential actions. Sometimes there are words to indicate a contingency, and sometimes the events are unrelated and happening at the same time.

Both are correct and are formed to add to the understanding of the hearer in order to make some statement about the future more clear.

To form the future progressive tense you use the words “will have been” with the present participle (ing verb). To make a question, the order is reversed to “will” (subject) “be” +ing verb (Present participle).

To make the future progressive into a negative, the word “not” is added after “will.” This makes it clear that it is negating the potential action.

Examples:

Statement	Question	Negative
I will have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).	Will I have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).?	I will not have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).
You will have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).	Will you have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period)?	You will not have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).
She will have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).	Will she have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period)?	She will have not been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).
He will have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).	Will he have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period)?	He will not have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).
They will have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).	Will they have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period)?	They will not have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).
We will have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).	Will we have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period)?	We will not have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).
It will have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).	Will it have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period)?	It will not have been jumping (usually with prepositional phrase & time period).

When to Use the Future Progressive Tense

There are several specific times when it is better to use the future perfect progressive rather than the simple future tense. Each of the times when the future perfect progressive is used rather than the simple future it is still to speak of the future, but it is also to add more understanding to the sentence.
Whenever a tense is changed to a more complex one, it is to add context or understanding to a greater degree than can be accomplished with a simpler tense.

In the case of the future perfect progressive, it is to talk about two time periods with specific endings and beginnings or to compare and communicate cause and effect.

To Talk About Two Specific Overlapping Time Periods

The future perfect continuous or future progressive is used to talk about two time periods at once, and to specify when one of those time periods is drawing to an end.

“He will have been running for several months to practice when he runs the marathon.”

In this sentence, the period of “running” and the period of “runs” are happening simultaneously in the future. The “running” and the “runs” are two unrelated events that will take place in the future but that are both referenced in the same sentence to give some sort of knowledge that is not already possessed.

This sentence could easily add a conditional “if” (which would change the tense of the sentence, but does not if the “if” is implied but not stated) in the case of it being a warning that the time of the “runs” could be changed to a time when the object is not running.

It is to communicate how much he has been practicing for this particular event, and that once the event is over, the practice will be brought to completion and will not occur any longer.

For example,

“Fred will have been waiting at the airport for three hours when you arrive.”

It is noted that Fred will have been at the airport for several hours and the implication is that he will have spent a long time at the airport by the time you arrive. “Feel sorry for poor Fred,” the sentence seems to say. “He is waiting for a long time.”

To Talk about Cause and Effect

The future perfect continuous is often used to talk about things that are caused by something else happening. These contingencies can be implied or they may be direct. This is a way of explaining cause and effect through prediction of if/then without necessarily using if/then Examples include:

Example:	Prediction:
We will have been traveling for five hours because the flight will be so late by the time we arrive.	If all goes as expected, this flight will be very delayed.
We will have been going to that particular mall for twenty years before it closes down forever.	If all goes as we expect, the mall that we have been going to for twenty years will close permanently.

More examples of Future Perfect Progressive

She will have been living in Atlanta for twelve years when she graduates.

We will have been studying taekwondo for three years in March.

He will have been practicing art for five years in May.

Note that the prepositional phrases can be either at the front of the sentence or at the end of the sentence so it could be:

By our 30th wedding anniversary, we will have lived in this house for 25 years.

Or

We will have lived in this house for 25 years on our 30th wedding anniversary.

A Note on Using the Future Progressive Tense

Very often when the future progressive tense appears with prepositional phrases it often also needs a time period for better understanding. The Prepositional phrases may come before or after the subject. The phrases add more detail to the contingencies and the predictive nature of the future progressive tense. The time periods communicate a more detailed understanding and put a stopping point to the action.

For Example:

In two months, I will have been living in Spain for two years.

I will have been traveling in Argentina in two months by the time my trip ends.

By 2025, I will have been running my own business for three years.

So the prepositional phrases either at the beginning, middle, or the end of the sentences add to the understanding of the sentences in ways that wouldn’t be easily understood otherwise. The time periods add the stopping point to the sentences and communicate when the action has come to an end.

All sentences that use the future perfect progressive deal with the future. The sentences specifically note the potential actions have possibly begun but have not yet stopped happening when they are spoken of, although they do predict a potential stopping point. They also communicate cause and effect by using the subordinating conjunction “because.”