Future Perfect Progressive Tense

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What Is the Future Perfect Progressive Tense? (with Examples)

The future perfect progressive tense is used for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future. For example:
  • John will have been baking a cake.
  • They will have been painting the fence.
The future perfect progressive tense is typically used with two time expressions: one specifying a time in the future and one stating the length of the activity. For example:
  • By six o'clock, John will have been baking a cake for an hour.
    • ("By six o'clock" specifies a time in the future. "For an hour" tells us the length of the activity.)
  • They will have been painting the fence for two days by Saturday.
    • ("By Saturday" specifies a time in the future. "For two days" tells us the length of the activity.)

A Video Summary

Here is a short video summarizing the future perfect progressive tense:

Infographic for the Future Progressive Tense

Here is an infographic explaining the future progressive tense:

future perfect progressive tense

More Examples of the Future Progressive Tense

Here are some more examples of the future perfect progressive tense (shaded):
  • In July next year, you will have been studying for eight months.
    • ("In July next year" is the specified time. "For eight months" tells us how long.)
  • I will have been playing poker for 30 years by then.
    • ("By then" is the specified time. "For 30 years" tells us how long.)
  • By the time the boat arrives, they will have been living without proper food for two weeks.
    • ("By the time the boat arrives" is the specified time. "For two weeks" tells us how long.)

Forming the Future Perfect Progressive Tense

The future perfect progressive tense is formed:
[subject]
+
"will have been"
+
[present participle]
  • At 10 pm, I will have been swimming for six hours.
  • They will have been talking for two hours by then.

Forming the Present Participle

The word that ends "ing" in each example above is known as a present participle. It is formed like this:

Add "ing" to most verbs:
  • play > playing
  • shout > shouting
For verbs that end "e," remove the "e" and add "ing:
  • prepare > preparing
  • ride > riding
For verbs that end "ie," change the "ie" to "y" and add "ing:
  • lie > lying
  • untie > untying
For verbs whose last syllable is written [consonant-vowel-consonant] and is stressed, double the final consonant and add "ing:
  • run > running
  • forget > forgetting

The Negative Version

If you need the negative version, you can use the following construction:
[subject]
+
"will not have been"
+
[present participle]
  • In July next year, you will not have been studying for three years.
  • I will not have been playing poker for 30 years by then.

The Question Version

If you need to ask a question, you can use the following word order for a yes/no question:
"will"
+
[subject]
+
"have been"
+
[present participle]
  • In July next year, will you have been studying for 3 years?
  • Will I have been playing poker for 30 years by then?
You can use the following word order for a question-word question:
[question word]
+
"will"
+
[subject]
+
"have been"
+
[present participle]
  • When will you have been studying for 3 years?

Verb Tense Widget

Use this widget to learn about the different tenses. How do you use this widget? Well, if there's a button, a drop-down menu, or a , then you can click it!
to base form

( verb)

Select the tenses.

Present Tenses

Simple Present Tense The simple present tense is mostly used to describe facts and habits. More...(opens new tab) I base form you base form he/she/it 3rd pers sing present we base form you base form they base form Present Progressive Tense The present progressive tense is used for an ongoing action in the present. More...(opens new tab) I am present participle you are present participle he/she/it is present participle we are present participle you are present participle they are present participle Present Perfect Tense The present perfect tense is used for actions that began in the past. (Often, the actions continue into the present.) More...(opens new tab) I have past participle you have past participle he/she/it has past participle we have past participle you have past participle they have past participle Present Perfect Progressive Tense The present perfect progressive tense is used for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present, or a continuous activity that began in past but has now finished (usually very recently). More...(opens new tab) I have been present participle you have been present participle he/she/it has been present participle we have been present participle you have been present participle they have been present participle

Past Tenses

Simple Past The simple past tense is used to describe a completed activity that happened in the past. More...(opens new tab) I past tense you past tense he/she/it past tense we past tense you past tense they past tense Past Progressive Tense The past progressive tense is used to describe an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action. More...(opens new tab) I was present participle you were present participle he/she/it was present participle we were present participle you were present participle they were present participle Past Perfect Tense The past perfect tense is used to emphasize that an action was completed before another took place. More...(opens new tab) I had past participle you had past participle he/she/it had past participle we had past participle you had past participle they had past participle Past Perfect Progressive Tense The past perfect progressive tense is used to show that an ongoing action in the past has ended. More...(opens new tab) I had been present participle you had been present participle he/she/it had been present participle we had been present participle you had been present participle they had been present participle

Future Tenses

Simple Future The simple future tense is used for an action that will occur in the future. More...(opens new tab) I will base form you will base form he/she/it will base form we will base form you will base form they will base form Future Progressive Tense The future progressive tense is used for an ongoing action that will occur in the future. More...(opens new tab) I will be present participle you will be present participle he/she/it will be present participle we will be present participle you will be present participle they will be present participle Future Perfect Tense The future perfect tense is used to describe an action that will have been completed at some point in the future. More...(opens new tab) I will have past participle you will have past participle he/she/it will have past participle we will have past participle you will have past participle they will have past participle Future Perfect Progressive Tense The future perfect progressive tense is used for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future. More...(opens new tab) I will have been present participle you will have been present participle he/she/it will have been present participle we will have been present participle you will have been present participle they will have been present participle

Other Future Tenses

The future perfect progressive tense is one of four future tenses. This table shows all four of the future tenses:
The 4 Future Tenses Example
simple future tense I will go
future progressive tense I will be going
future perfect tense I will have gone
future perfect progressive I will have been going

Slider Showing All the Tenses

The following slider shows all 12 tenses. The future perfect progressive tense is highlighted with a yellow background.
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See Also

Take a test on the future perfect progressive tense Tenses Simple past tense Past progressive tense Past perfect tense Past perfect progressive tense Simple present tense Present progressive tense Present perfect tense Present perfect progressive tense Simple future tense Future progressive tense Future perfect tense