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Future Tense
What Is the Future Tense? (with Examples)
The future tense is a verb tense used for a future activity or a future state of being. For example:- I will jump in the lake. (This is a future activity.)
- I will be happy. (This is a future state of being.)
Table of Contents
- The Four Future Tenses Explained
- Simple Future Tense
- Examples of the Simple Future Tense
- Future Progressive Tense
- Examples of the Future Progressive Tense
- Future Perfect Tense
- Examples of the Future Perfect Tense
- Future Perfect Progressive Tense
- Examples of the Future Perfect Progressive Tense
- Interactive Verb Conjugation Tables
- Video Lesson
- Printable Test

The Four Future Tenses Explained
The future tense is categorized further depending on whether the action will be in progress or will be completed (called the aspect of a verb). The four future tenses are:The 4 Future Tenses | Examples | Uses |
---|---|---|
simple future tense |
|
The simple future tense is used for an action that will occur in the future. |
future progressive tense |
|
The future progressive tense is used for an ongoing action that will occur in the future. |
future perfect tense |
|
The future perfect tense is used to describe an action that will have been completed at some point in the future. |
future perfect progressive |
|
The future perfect progressive tense is used for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future. |
Simple Future Tense
Here is an infographic summarizing the simple future tense.
Examples of the Simple Future Tense
"will"
+ [base form of the verb]
- I will play after breakfast.
- Susan will not go to Germany.
- What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. (Greek biographer Plutarch)
- Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. (Author Og Mandino)
- Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. (Physicist Albert Einstein)
- Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. (Robert A Heinlein)
- In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. (Activist Martin Luther King Jr)
- Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. (Chinese philosophe Confucius) (Have to is known as a modal auxiliary verb. Like must, it is used to express obligation.)
- Happiness is your dentist telling you it won't hurt and then having him catch his hand in the drill. (Producer Johnny Carson) (Remember that won't is a contraction of will not and is often used to form the simple future tense.
- I won't be a rock star. I will be a legend. (Singer Freddie Mercury)
Future Progressive Tense
Here is an infographic summarizing the future progressive tense.
Examples of the Future Progressive Tense
"will be"
+ [present participle]
- I will be playing for an hour.
- Will I be spending too much money if I buy the newer model?
- He will be fighting his way to the boxing championship.
- Always be nice to those younger than you because they are the ones who will be writing about you.
- In September, we will be enjoying all the fruit we planted last March.
- Those who are laughing now will be crying later.
- Soon I will be doing what I love again. (Guitarist Vinnie Vincent)
- I'll be performing at 80 years old. Music is like fashion - it changes. But some things will always be the same. (Singer Toni Braxton) (Remember that I'll is a contraction of I will.)
- Every breath you take. Every move you make. Every bond you break. Every step you take, I'll be watching you. (Singer Sting)
- She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes. (She'll is a contraction of she will.)
- She'll be riding six white horses when she comes.
- The next time you see a spider's web, please pause and look a little closer. You'll be seeing one of the most high-performance materials known to man. (Biologist Cheryl Hayashi) (You'll is a contraction of you will.)
- In my case, there's no revolving door. I won't be going back to government. (Politician Mary Schapiro) (Won't is a contraction of will not.)
Future Perfect Tense
Here is an infographic summarizing the future perfect tense.
Examples of the Future Perfect Tense
"will have"
+ [past participle]
- I will have played by breakfast.
- By September, Jenny will have taken over that role.
- Will you have graduated by this time next year?
- I hope that, when I leave this planet, I will have touched a few people in a positive way. (Actor Will Rothhaar)
- The rain will not have stopped before the competition starts.
- You won't have sold a single car by tomorrow if you stay here. (Won't is a contraction of will not.)
Future Perfect Progressive Tense
Here is an infographic summarizing the future perfect progressive tense.
Examples of the Future Perfect Progressive Tense
"will have been"
+ [present participle]
- I will have been playing for 2 hours by breakfast.
- By the time the boat arrives, they will have been living without proper food for two weeks.
- Shops that will have been running for three or two years by then will have to close down.
- They will have been driving for ten hours by the time they arrive in Scotland.
- If it rains again tomorrow, then it will have been raining for three days.
- He will be agitated when he arrives because he will have been working for ten hours.
- When you are promoted next year, how long will you have been working on the factory floor?
- You will not have been waiting for over an hour when the taxi arrives. That's not true.
Top 10 Regular Verbs
Top 10 Irregular Verbs
All 4 Past Tenses
Person | Simple Past | Past Progressive Tense | Past Perfect Tense | Past Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.
|
The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.
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The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.
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The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.
|
All 4 Present Tenses
Person | Simple Present | Present Progressive Tense | Present Perfect Tense | Present Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.
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The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.
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The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)
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The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).
|
All 4 Future Tenses
Person | Simple Future | Future Progressive Tense | Future Perfect Tense | Future Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.
|
The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.
|
The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.
|
The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.
|
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