Future Perfect Continuous Tense
You use the future perfect continuous tense to indicate an action that will have been ongoing in the future, or continuing on from the past into the future, when another action occurs.
- I will have been waiting a total of four hours on the tarmac by the time the plane finally takes off.
- She is going to have been arguing with her mother all afternoon until her father gets home.
- By the time the traffic dies down, the vultures will have been circling the dead squirrel on the road for over an hour.
As with the future continuous and future perfect tenses, you can use the auxiliaries “will” and “be going to” interchangeably to form the future perfect continuous tense.
Forming the Future Perfect Continuous Tense
You form the future perfect continuous tense by combining the auxiliaries “will” or “be going to” with “have” + the perfect form of “to be” + the -ing form of the root verb.
- She will have been writing all morning by the time the exam is over.
- By next Thursday, the landscapers will have been sodding the yard for a total of 170 hours.
- You will have been teaching for 25 years when you retire.
Making the Future Perfect Continuous Tense Negative
To make the future perfect continuous tense negative, you negate the auxiliary verb:
- Fortunately, she will not have been baking all day by the time the party starts.
- They are not going to have been driving all night when the sun comes up.
- By the end of high school, she will not have been dancing a full ten years.
Phrasing the Future Perfect Continuous Tense as a Question
To make the future perfect continuous tense interrogative, use this order: auxiliary verb + subject + “have” + perfect form of “to be” + the -ing form of the root verb. Interrogatives can also begin with adverbs expressing time or place.
- How long will they have been graduating students by the end of this school year?
- Are you going to have been laughing at this same joke by the time study hall ends?
- Will I have been practicing for six hours when you get home?
Learn more about verb tenses.