The Future Tenses

Tense of a verb tells one when a person did something or when something existed or
happened. In English there are three main tenses: the past, the present and the future tenses. Our
main topic is future tenses, that refer to all future activities. Considering the vague instances in
future time, there are different forms of clauses that we can use to express future time, therefore
the classification offers us different types of future tenses.

Future Simple Tense

The Future Simple Tense refers to things that did not yet happened, but which are
expected to occur. It denotes an activity which will take place in the future, definite or indefinite.
In structuring the tense, the auxiliary verb will is used with a verb in its present participle
form, and is considered main verb of the sentence. We can use shall instead of will in statements
about the future with pronouns I and We, but in current English it is more common to use
will/wont. Due to the type of a sentence, auxiliary verb has its own place within it.
Positive sentence: subject + auxiliary verb + main verb (present part.)
She will send me the mail.
He will help us.
Interrogative sent.: aux. verb + subject + main verb (present part.)
Will she send me the mail?
Will he help us?
mail? Negative sent.: subject + aux.verb + NOT + main verb (pr.part.)
She will not send me the mail.
He will not help us.
The Future Simple Tense has its own specific use and there are not just future events with
time specifications, but more sophisticated than that. The future simple is used:
To predict a future event:
It will be sunny tomorrow.
Will it be great tomorrow at the beach?
With I and We, to express a spontaneous decision:
I think I will need a ride home, I dont feel well.
We will not go there, its dangerous.

1
 To express willingness:
Ill carry this for you.
They will accept all our terms and conditions.
In negative form, to express unwillingness:
I wont leave until Ive seen the manager.
She will not surrender.
With I and shall in interrogative form to make an offer:
Shall I bring that to you?
Shall I come there?
To ask for advice or instructions:
What shall I tell her?
When shall I enter the courtroom?
With you, to give orders:
You will clean up your room, immediately!
You will sit down and be quiet!
In interrogative form, to give invitation:
Will you come to the party tomorrow?
Will you attend the council meeting tomorrow?
Will they be willing to come to the reunion?

To express future, not only will is used but also GOING TO. There is difference between
the two, but very little though.
We use going to rather than will when we PREDICT that something will happen in the
future because we have some evidence for it now. It may be that we predict an event that is just
about to happen on the basis of something that we feel, see (etc.) now:
Whats the matter with her? She thinks shes going to faint.
Or it may be that we can predict an event because we have been told that it will happen:
Did you know that Bob and Charlotte are going to get married?
However, if we make a prediction based on our opinion or our past experience we use will:
I imagine the stadium will be full for the match on Sunday.
When we talk about INTENTIONS and DECISIONS about the future that were made
some time before we report them, we prefer going to or the present continuous:
Toni told me that shes going to move back to Spain.
However, notice that in a formal style, we use will rather than going to to talk about future events
that have been previously arranged in some detail:
The meeting will begin at 10.00 am. Coffee will be available from 9.30 onwards.

2
When we state a decision made at the moment of speaking, we prefer will:
Its late. I think Ill go to bed now.
We use will to indicate that we think a present or future situation is CERTAIN:
You will know that John and Sandy are engaged. (you already know)
We wont see them again before Christmas.
We can use will to talk about characteristic behavior or habits, or about the things that are
always true:
Every day Dan will come home from work and turn on the TV.
A baby will recognize its mothers voice soon after it is born
In speech, we can stress will to criticize peoples characteristic behavior or habits:
She will leave all the lights on in the house when she goes out.
Will often suggests that the speaker will do something VOLUNTARILY; we use it to respond to
someone elses complaint or request for help; when we request that someone help us or volunteer
to do something for us, and negative form to refuse to do something voluntarily:
I will translate the e-mail.
Will you make dinner?
Ill get you some coffee.
When we make PROMISES:
I will call you when I arrive.
Dont worry, Ill be careful.

Future Continuous Tense

The Future Continuous Tense denotes an activity which will take place in a definite
future moment or period of time. The DEFINITE moment/period is either expressed in the
sentence or clearly indicated by the context or situation. The structure of this tense is simple:
WILL + BE (aux.verb) + present participle-ing.
At this time tomorrow, Ill be travelling to England.
I wonder what he will be doing this time tomorrow?
After the operation, you wont be doing any sport for a while.

3
We also use the future continuous when the future activity is the result of a previous
ARRANGEMENT or decision:
She will be performing every day until the end of the month. (part of a schedule)
or of a ROUTINE activity:
Ill be seeing Tony on Tuesday. Thats when we usually meet.
We can often use either the future continuous or the present continuous when we talk about
PLANNED activities or events in the future:
Professor Hobbs will be giving the first presentation at the conference.
But, it is preferred the present continuous to talk about SURPRISING events or unexpected
activities:
Have you heard the news? Dr Richard is leaving!
And we use this tense to ask about peoples plans, but when you want to ask them to do
something unexpected or difficult:
What time you will be coming to baby-sit? We have to be at the theatre by 7 oclock.
Compare: What time are you coming to baby-sit?

Future Perfect Tense

We use future perfect to say something will be ended, completed, achieved by a particular
point in the future. It is constructed of: WILL + HAVE + past participle.
Although people are now angry about what he did, Im sure his behavior will soon have
been forgotten.
By the time you get home I will have cleaned the house from top to bottom
Notice that we can use other modal verbs to talk about the future in a less certain way:
By the time you get home I will/could/may have cleaned the house.
When we want to indicate that we think an unreal past situation-that is, an imaginary situationor
a situation that might have happened in the past, but didnt-is certain:
I would have been happy to see him, but I didnt have time.
My grandmother wouldnt have approved of the exhibition.

4
 Future Perfect Continuous
It is used in a situation when you want to emphasize hoe long something has been going on by a
particular point in the future.
On Saturday, we will have been living in this house for a year.
Next week I will have been working in the company for 30 years.
In sentences with the future perfect continuous we usually mention both the particular point in
the future and the period in time. Notice that we dont usuall use the future perfect continuous
with verbs describing states:
Next month I will have known Mike for 10 years.
Definitely, the last thing, but not the least, is one interesting phenomena in English, concerning
future activities, is special sentence construction called FUTURE SEEN FROM THE PAST. And
there are a number of ways of talking about an activity or event that was in the future at a
particular point in the past. Compare the following:
The new computer will arrive next week. Our computer was broken and we hoped the new
one would arrive soon.
Im collecting my mother from the station I left the meeting early because I was collecting my
mother at 3.30.
this afternoon.
The context in which these forms are used will often indicate whether the activity or event did or
did not happen, although in some cases we may not know whether the activity or event happened
or not.
They left the house at 6.00 pm and would reach Edinburgh some 12 hours later. (they
reached Edinburgh)
He was sure that the medical tests would show that he was healthy. (we dont know
whether he was healthy or not)
The last thing left to mention is adverb placement for such adverb as: always, only, ever,
never, still, just, etc.:
You will never help him.
Will you ever be on time?
You will have only been humiliated in front of all.
You will be definitely coming when you feel the scent.
So, in conclusion they are just behind the auxiliary verbs.

5
References:

1. Hewings, M. Advanced Grammar in Use, Cambridge University Press, 1999.

2. http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplefuture.html used:09.12.2016.
3. http://www.ef.com/english-resources/english-grammar/simple-future-tense
4. http://www.studyandexam.com/future-simple-tense.html
5. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/grammar/verb-tenses