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

by Craig Shrives

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. 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 a 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 , you can click it!
to base form

( verb)

Select the tenses.

Present Tenses

Past Tenses

Future Tenses

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.
Interactive Exercise
Here are three randomly selected questions from a larger exercise, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.

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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