Welcome to this class on the future perfect
continuous tense. This is one of the most advanced tenses in the English language. So,
first of all, congratulations on reaching this level where you're watching this lesson.
It's quite amazing. Feel good. Now, this class is part of a series on English tenses that's
created for you by www.engvid.com . But what is the future perfect continuous tense, anyway?
First of all, it's also called the future perfect progressive tense. But what is it?
When do we use it? How do we use it? Why do we need to say, "By that time, I will have
been working"? Would you like to find out? Let's get started. So, first of all, we know from the name itself
that this tense has something to do with the future and it has something to do with something
continuing, right? Future and continuing. Let's understand what we mean by that. So,
we use this tense to say that something, an action, will have been going on for a certain
period of time. We want to say how long something will have been going on at a particular time
in the future, or before a particular event in the future. Got that? I'll say it again:
we want to understand how long something will have been going on before a particular time
or event in the future. Alright? Let's look at an example so you can understand more clearly. So, this is our timeline. This is now, okay,
the present. That side is the future, and this side is the past. So, let's say that
I'm imagining what it - I'm here now, right? It's July. Let's say it's July, and I'm imagining
what my life will be like next year in July. So, I could use this tense to say something
like this. By next July - let's suppose you started working here, okay, in July - so,
we could say: By next July, I will have been working here for one year. Alright? You started
your job this July, and we're talking about what it will be like next July, and you could
say, "By next July, I will have been working here for one year." Okay? That's if you started
the job now. But let's suppose you started the job ten years ago in July, alright? You
could still say, "By next July, I will have been working here for" - how many years? Ten
plus one - "for eleven years." "By next July, I will have been working here for eleven years."
So, we're kind of thinking about the future and saying what will have been continuing
at that point in the future. Okay? You will understand more as we look at more examples
and we work through it, okay? Now, what's the difference though, between
saying a sentence in the future perfect continuous tense, which is what we're learning here,
and the future perfect tense, which you might have learned just before this? Well, let's
look. This one, of course, says "By next July, I will have been working here" - will have
been working, that's future perfect continuous. "I will have been working here for one year."
But, in future perfect, we would have said, "By next July, I will have worked here for
one year." So, what's the difference? Is there a difference? They are similar but there is
a difference, okay? When I say, "By next July, I will have worked here for one year", it's
just kind of a fact. It's just the way it is. But, when I say, "By next July, I will
have been working here for one year", the stress, the emphasis is on how long that is.
How the duration of it, and that it kind of continues. The stress is on the continuation
on it and not just that it will have happened, okay? So, that's a little bit of the difference
but again, we'll understand more as we go along. Basically, how do we construct this tense?
Pretty simple. We just take the subject: I, you, we, they, he, she, or it, then we have
to add these three helping verbs: will have been, and then we take the verb "work" + ing.
Now, you wouldn't just say "I will have been working", it's part of a full sentence, okay?
By next July, by Midnight. Let's suppose you started working at 6:00 in the morning, and
now it's 6:00 in the evening. How many hours have you worked? Twelve. But let's suppose
that you are supposed to work until Midnight. So, you could say at 6:00 in the evening,
"By midnight, I will have been working for eighteen hours." Wow. I'm going to exhausted.
So, in that case, you can understand why the person is using that, because they want to
show that it really lasts for a long time, and it continues for a long time. Okay? That's
the basics of this tense. Now, let's look at when we can and cannot
use this tense. So, we can use the future perfect continuous to talk about how long
something will have been going on at a specific time in the future. That's one way. What do
I mean? Let's look at an example: Next November - right, that's a specific time in the future
- next November, we will have been living in this house for 15 years. So, let's suppose
somebody asks you, "How long have you been living here?" And you say, "You know what?
By next November, we will have been living here for 15 years, and we still love it here.
We love this house, we love this area, we love this neighborhood. We're very happy."
Okay? So, where's the future perfect continuous? Here: will have been living. Alright? But
at a specific time in the future. It will be that way, okay? Now, we can also use it before another action
in the future. For example: By the time the guests arrive - this is the action here - By
the time the guests arrive - this is an action in the future - I will have been cooking all
day. So, I will be exhausted. What does it mean to be exhausted? Very tired, alright?
So, this is a specific action in the future. By that time, when the guests arrive, what?
I - and here, we have our future perfect - will have been cooking, right? I will have been
cooking and cooking and cooking and cooking. The continuity is emphasized by using this
tense. How long something happens is emphasized, okay, by using this tense. Alright? Next, we also use this tense with certain
common expressions, alright? For example, because why do we need these expressions?
Because we have to put it in some kind of context, right? So, we probably say something
like this: by this Saturday, by next month, by next week, right? Or, without the word
"by", you could just say: this week, or next summer, next winter, okay? It's a time in
the future. Or, you could say a year, by 2025. And very often, you will see the word "for",
right? So, you saw it here: for 15 years, because you're trying to say how long something
will have been going on, okay? So, for + the period of time. For five years, for five months,
for five winters, okay? Anything. You can say anything with "for", as long as it's a
period of time. Alright? And when can we not use this tense? Like all
continuous tenses in English, including this one, we cannot use it with many stative verbs,
okay? We cannot use it with many stative verbs. So, what are stative verbs? Remember, there
are two basic kinds of verbs in English. The dynamic or action verbs, and the stative verbs.
And action verbs are like run, work, play, okay? And stative verbs describe some kind
of state or condition. It could be mental, it could be emotional, or it could be something
else, okay? If you check any grammar book, you will see a long list of stative verbs.
For example, some mental stative verbs, which we cannot use with this tense: know, believe,
realize. Some emotional kind of verbs: love, hate, prefer. Or, some verbs that talk about
some kind of ownership, okay? Something you possess or possession: own, belong. Alright?
And there are many more, and some are - some are sometimes allowed and sometimes not allowed.
So, you have to pay attention to that, but in general, a good rule to remember is that
many stative verbs cannot be used with this continuous tense or with any continuous tense. Now, let's look at how we form the future
perfect continuous tense. Let's start with the positive sentence first, then we'll look
at the negative sentence and the question. So, for a positive sentence, your basic structure
is like this: you take the subject + will have been + a verb + -ing. Let's look at an
example. So, these are the subjects, and the subject can be any other word as well. I,
you, we, they, he, she, it, okay? So, what would we say? I will have been flying. So,
let's take an example. Let's say I'm flying to Tokyo, and I'm thinking ahead and say,
"By the time I arrive in Tokyo, I will have been flying for 12 hours." Okay? Or, you will
have been flying. Say it after me, just so that you get used to this: We will have been
flying. They will have been flying. He will have been flying. She will have been flying.
And, it will have been flying? Maybe the drone? I don't know, okay? Something. Alright. Now, for a negative sentence, it's very easy.
We're just adding the word "not", okay? I will not have been flying for 12 hours, actually.
You know what? I will have been flying for 14 hours. Okay? So, for the negative, you're
just adding "will not have been flying". That's easy. And again, it's the same. Doesn't matter
what the subject is, okay? The pilot will have been flying. Could be anything. Next, to form a question. Basically, we're
going to start with the "will", then the subject, then the rest of it. For example: Will I have
been flying for - Will I really have been flying for 12 hours? I'm asking myself. Or,
will you have been flying? Will we have been flying? Will they have been flying? And again,
you know, it's part of an entire context, right? Will he have been flying? Will she
have been flying for that long? Okay? And so on. And very often, the most common question
word that we might see before this "will" is this one: how long will, okay - because
now it's not capitalized - how long will you have been flying by the time you reach Tokyo?
14 hours? Wow. Okay? So, this is basically how we form this tense. Now, let's look at how we use contractions
with this tense, and also how we pronounce them. So, we use contractions usually in informal
conversation and in informal writing, like in an email, an informal email. But, if it's
formal business writing or if it's academic writing, then we do not use contractions. So, let's look at some examples. Let's take
a positive sentence first. Let's say, "By next year, I will have been playing the piano
for ten years." Okay? So, we can shorten a part of this. Instead of saying "I will",
we can say "I'll". "I'll have been playing." You say it. You'll have been playing. We'll
have been playing. They'll have been playing. He'll have been playing. She'll have been
playing. And the last one, It'll have been playing. Now, you may or may not feel comfortable
saying the last one. You can always say it separately, no problem, okay? Next, what if it's negative? Next year, I
will not have been playing the piano for ten years. I will actually have been playing the
piano for 15 years, okay? So, now, how do we shorten or contract "I will not"? It's
a little unusual. We just say "I won't". Say it after me: I won't. I won't have been playing.
You won't have been playing. We won't have been playing. They won't have been playing.
He won't have been playing. She won't have been playing. And, It won't have been playing.
Okay? The reason we're repeating that phrase again and again is for many reasons. One is
to practice your pronunciation. Second is to practice the grammar and just keep looking
at it and saying it. And that will help you to remember how this tense works. Now, let's look at some of the spelling changes
we have to make to the base form of the verb when we add -ing. So, for most verbs, all
you have to do is add -ing. For example, speak becomes speaking. All we did was add -ing.
Listen - listening. Okay? That's what you do for the majority of verbs. But there are
always some exceptions. Here are a few. For verbs ending in e, then we have to drop
the e and, of course, in all cases, we're adding -ing. So, let's take this word, "operate".
So, it ends with an e. So, what do we do? We cancel or drop that e and we add -ing.
So, operate becomes operating. Arrange becomes arranging. Okay? That's one change. Here's another situation. For verbs ending
in ie, there we have to drop the - sorry, drop the ie, add y, and then, of course, add
-ing. Let's look at an example: tie - so we're going to cancel this ie, add a y, and then
-ing. So, tie becomes tying. Lie becomes lying. Okay? Good. And here's another situation. Very often,
but not always, for verbs ending in c-v-c, we have to double the last letter. What is
c-v-c? If you've been watching our videos and the different tenses, you will know by
now that this is consonant - vowel - consonant. A vowel in English is A, E, I, O, or U, and
the consonants are all the other letters. So, if you look at a verb, right? Let's take
this verb, and to make it easier, look at it from the end, okay? So, the last letter
is a consonant, the p. The next letter is an o, so it's a vowel. The next letter is
a h, so it's a consonant. So, we have this pattern, right? C-v-c, so then what we do
is we usually double the last letter. For example, "to stop" becomes "shopping". Run
becomes running. Now, this doesn't apply in all verbs that end like this, but it does
apply to lots of them. So, remember some of these spelling changes when you're using this
tense. Now, let's practice this tense together. So,
I've written some positive sentences, some negative ones, and one question. Let's try
them together. Number one: By the time we reach Niagara Falls,
we _________________ (drive) for eight hours. So, how can you change that into the future
prefect continuous tense? By the time we reach Niagara Falls, we will have been driving for
eight hours. We will have been driving for eight hours. Okay? Good. Number two: When he retires next year, he
___________________ (teach) for 25 years. Another positive sentence, affirmative sentence.
What will it be? When he retires next year, he will have been teaching, right? Okay. Here,
we just added -ing. Here, with the verb "drive", what did we do? We cancelled the e and added
the -ing, okay? So, pay attention to those spelling changes as well. Number three: Next month, you ______________
(write) this book for two years. Then we have a negative sentence: You ______________ (not
research) any other subject. So, let's take it step by step. Next month, you ______________
(write) this book for two years. What would we say? You will have been writing, okay?
Again, we're cancelling the e and adding -ing, okay? You can say, "You will have been writing",
or you could say, "You'll", right? Instead of "you will", you could have contracted it
and said, "You'll have been writing", okay. That would work, too. You'll have been writing
this book for two years. Now, we want the negative. You _____________ (not research)
any other subject. So, let's use the contraction for the negative here. What would it be? You
won't have been researching any other subject. So, let's read the sentence again: Next month,
you will have been writing this book for two years. You won't have been researching any
other subject. Okay? Very good. Let's do number four: Next week, she _________________
(not eat) meat for one year. How do we change that? Make it negative, remember? She will
not have been eating, okay, meat for one year. Good for you, if you got all that. Next week,
she will not have been eating meat for one year. Okay, great. Number five: By 1:00pm - first, we're just
going to read a sentence, okay? Then we're going to try to make a question from it. By
1:00pm, the athletes will have been running for four hours. "Will have been running" is
the tense that we're taking about, our future prefect continuous, okay? How do we make that
into a question? How long - let's start with how long - will they, meaning the athletes,
have been running? Okay? So, let's read it again: By 1:00, the athletes will have been
running for four hours. So, if you want to ask a question: How long will they have been
running? Okay? Good for you. You did a great job. This a challenging tense and you got
it. Now, let's look at some common mistakes that
are made with this tense, and let's correct them together. So, the first one is that, as I mentioned,
we cannot use stative verbs with the continuous tenses or with this tense. But sometimes,
people forget that and they might say something like this: By next year, we will have been
knowing their family for 30 years. So, why is that a mistake? Because "know" is a stative
verb, which you should not and cannot use in that continuous form. So, this sentence
would have to be what? By next year, we will have known their family for 30 years. We will
have known, okay? And not, "We will have been knowing". So here, we needed the future perfect
by itself. Okay. Sometimes, there's a mistake because we have
to use this tense in a context, right? We have to use the context at some time in the
future, or before some action in the future. But sometimes, people forget to mention that
and then the tense doesn't make sense by itself. The only time it makes sense by itself is
if someone is asked a question and then all you are doing is answering, okay? So, if you
are answering and you said, "I will have been studying here for three years", because somebody
asked you, "How long will have been studying here by the time you graduate?" Then it would
be okay to say, "I will have been studying here for three years." But, if somebody has
not asked you a question and you're not giving an answer and by itself, you just say with
no time given, "I will have been studying here for three years", it doesn't mean anything.
It sort of doesn't make sense. So, you want to give it some context. So, maybe you will
say: by next summer, by November, by the end of this year, I will have been studying here
for three years. Then it would be okay. So, let's add something here and we'll say "by
November", okay? By November, I will have been studying here for three years. So, we
need that context of time. We also could have context in terms of an
action that will happen in the past - in the future, right? So, let's look at this sentence:
We will have been traveling for 12 hours. Again, no context unless someone asked you
a question. Which, in this case, they didn't. So, let's give it some context of another
action. So, we could say: By the time we reach Miami, or Dallas, or New York, or anywhere,
we - again - we will have been traveling for 12 hours. Okay? Now, it has the reference
point of another action. And now, it's fine. It's absolutely fine. And just in case you're
wondering, the word "traveling" can be spelled in two ways. This is the more North American
or American spelling. And the British spelling usually has a double l, okay? So, let's go to the next one, which is, in
fact, spelling. Spelling mistakes are common, so be careful. Let's look here and see if
you can find the spelling mistakes. This year, they will have been guideing tours for ten
years. Can you find one spelling mistake there? This year, they will have been guiding. So,
the mistake is here. Why? Because this verb is "guide", right, by itself? But when we
add -ing, what do we need to do? Cancel that e. So, it would be "guiding tours for ten
years". Let's look at another sentence: Next month,
he wont have been smokeing for 20 years. This sentence has two mistakes. Can you find them?
Two spelling mistakes. Next month, he wont have been smokeing for 20 years. So, one mistake
is here. This apostrophe is missing. Now, it's correct. And, "have been smokeing". Again,
"smoke" is a verb which ends with e, so we need to cancel that e to write "smoking".
Okay? So, these are some of the common mistakes.
Be careful of them, of the stative verbs, the spelling, and make sure you give your
sentences some kind of context of time and/or of another action. So, to review, let's look at three last examples
of this future perfect continuous tense. The first one is a positive example: When Sue
finishes university, she will have been living abroad for six years. Right? Here's our tense:
will have been living. Okay? Very nice. Let's look at a negative example: By next
week. Sam won't have been working for a year. Where's the tense? Sam won't have been working,
alright? And the last one: When he retires, how long
will Jack have been managing this department? Where's the tense? Here: will have been managing.
Alright? So, this is basically what you need to understand
for this tense, right? When to use it, how to use it, using the positive sentence, the
negative sentence, the question. And this is an advanced tense. So, it will be very
helpful. It's great that you've learned it, and as you read and as you listen to the news,
you'll start to now hear this tense being used, okay? And you'll feel really good, because
you understand exactly what they're trying to say, alright? So, give yourself a lot of
credit for having come this far, for reaching this high level in terms of your English tenses
and in terms of your English, alright? Now, after this, you can, whenever you're
ready, you can go on to watch the next class in our series. And last of all, if you'd like
to do a little more practice on this particular tense, then just go to www.engvid.com and
you can do a quiz on this. Alright? Congratulations again, and all the very best with your English.
