Future Perfect Continuous Tense

In our day to day life, we use different forms of tense. Tense is an important part of English grammar. Tense is mainly used to express time and duration of an action.Tense can be broadly classified into three categories called: the Present Tense, the Past Tense, and the Future Tense. These main components are further divided into four sub-categories. For this particular lesson we will study, Future Perfect Continuous Tense. This particular tense indicates a kind of work that will progress till a specific time in future. 

Definition of Future Perfect Continuous Tense  

This tense is a subcategory of Future Tense. It expresses a particular time of an action that continues for a certain timeframe in the future. As this is a progressive tense, it generally represents an action that is yet to take place or might occur later. The main formula for constructing a sentence in Future Perfect Continuous Tense is to include a subject, verb in future perfect continuous tense, followed by an object if necessary. For example, We will have been playing the match by this time tomorrow. 

The use of this tense indicates that we are seeing ourselves looking ahead of time and thinking about the duration of a certain activity. The activity might begin at some point in a distant time and is expected to continue till a certain period in future. In the use of “Future Perfect Continuous Tense”, we also need to remember that non-action verbs are not suitable for this tense. The use of non-action verbs can lead to grammatical errors, and it can misinterpret the whole meaning of the speaker. For example, the use of ‘like to be, to seem or to know’ is inappropriate to use in Future Perfect Continuous Tense. 

Uses of Future Perfect Continuous Tense 

Future Perfect Continuous Tense can also be called future perfect progressive. The tense allows the speaker to project themselves ahead of time or rather make them look forward. Hence, one might say what they will be doing at this time tomorrow by the use of “Future Perfect Continuous Tense”. 

We use it more often in our speech. In some cases, it has been seen that this tense is used inappropriately. The wrong application of this tense occurs due to the lack of knowledge about its formula. In most cases, the speakers do not use the proper participle form of the verb; instead they use a verb in the past tense. 

We should use the future form of the verb ‘to have’ followed by ‘been’ as auxiliary and add the main verb in its present participle form. Any negligence can lead to a grammatical error. One must also be careful with non-action verbs, as it is not appropriate with Future Perfect Continuous Tense. 

Learning and using the correct formula would lead to appropriate use of this tense.

Examples of Future Perfect Continuous Tense  

“Future Perfect Tense” can be broken down into three pacers for better understanding. 

Future: The tense indicates an action that is yet to take place. 

Perfect: The tense refers to an action that has definitiness.

Continuous: The continuous tense indicates an activity that is continuing.

To assemble this, it generally indicates an activity that will continue up until a certain time in future. The tense can be used in different speeches and both positively or negatively. 

Some examples of this tense are-

1. We will have been studying by this time next week.
2. She will have been going to school next Monday at this time.
3. I shall have been cooking at this time tomorrow.
4. In November, I shall have been living in Dubai. 
5. After finishing the task, I will have been reading storybooks for the entire day.

Conclusion  

It is very important to have proper knowledge of Future perfect continuous tense or a mistake will lead to grammatical errors. The “Future Perfect Tense” is a subcategory of future tense. This tense refers to an action that will start at a future time and will be continued till a particular time in the future. It is very important to use the grammatical rules properly while using tense. Most of the time, the speakers are negligent about the uses of this tense. This leads to a wrong sentence formation. Hence, we must be more careful while using tense in both speech and writing.