Future Progressive Tense

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What Is the Future Progressive Tense? (with Examples)

The future progressive tense is used for an ongoing action that will occur in the future. For example:
  • John will be baking a cake.
  • They will be painting the fence.

A Video Summary

Here is a short video summarizing the future progressive tense:

Infographic for the Future Perfect Tense

Here is an infographic explaining the future progressive tense:

future progressive tense

Examples of the Future Progressive Tense

Here are some examples of the future progressive tense (shaded):
  • The Moscow State Circus will be performing in Cheltenham for the next 3 weeks.
  • We will be celebrating like kings if it works.
  • The next time you see a spider's web, please pause and look a little closer. You will be seeing one of the most high-performance materials known to man. (Biologist Cheryl Hayashi)
  • She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes.
    • ("She'll" is a contraction of "she will.")

Forming the Future Progressive Tense

The future progressive tense is formed like this:
"will be"
+
[present participle ("verb-ing")]


(This is the construction for singular and plural.)

Forming the Present Participle

The word that ends "-ing" 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:
"will not be"
+
[present participle]
  • The Moscow State Circus will not be performing in Cheltenham for the next 3 weeks.
  • We will not be celebrating like kings if it fails.
Remember that "will not be" can be said or written (especially in informal writing) as the contraction "won't be."

The Question Version

If you need to ask a question, you can use the following word order for a yes/no question:
"will"
+
[subject]
+
"be"
+
[present participle]
  • Will the Moscow State Circus be performing in Washington?
  • Will we be celebrating like kings?
You can use the following word order for a question-word question:
[question word]
+
"will"
+
[subject]
+
"be"
+
[present participle]
  • When will the Moscow State Circus be performing in Cheltenham?
  • Why will we be celebrating like kings?
You can use the following word order for a choice question:
"will"
+
[subject]
+
"be"
+
[present participle]
+ +
choice A
+
or
+
choice B
  • Will the Moscow State Circus be performing in New York or Washington?
"will"
+
[subject]
+
"be"
+
present participle A
+
or
+
present participle B
  • Will we be celebrating like kings commiserating like paupers?

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 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 progressive tense is highlighted with a yellow background.
Ready for the Test?
Here is a confirmatory test for this lesson.

This test can also be:
  • Edited (i.e., you can delete questions and play with the order of the questions).
  • Printed to create a handout.
  • Sent electronically to friends or students.

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See Also

Take a test on the future 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 perfect tense Future perfect progressive tense