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Future Perfect Vs. Future Perfect Progressive

April 10, 2014

How long can one verb be?

When a verb is comprised of four parts, it starts to get complicated—and that’s exactly what happens with the future perfect progressive (will + have + been + -ing verb). The future perfect and the future perfect progressive are rarely used in English, so should we bother teaching these tenses to our students?

My opinion is that if students will come across it, we need to teach it to them at some point (but you can definitely wait until they’re at an advanced level). Just be sure to mention that since it’s unusual to know for sure what will happen at two points in the future, these tenses are rarely used. Also, they are quite formal, and we usually substitute the simple future and the future progressive for a more informal style.

For advanced students and those taking a test like the TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, etc., here’s a tried-and-true method for making the future perfect and future perfect progressive as clear as possible.

Future Perfect: WILL + HAVE + P.P.

The future perfect is formed with the future modal will, the base verb have, and the past participle of the main verb. It is used when you think the first future action will finish before the second future action. The following diagram will help illustrate this to your students:

Make sure you point out that a simple present verb is used in the dependent clause, so students need to be careful of the subject (the verb will end in -s for the following subjects: she, he, it, a singular count/countable noun, and a non-count/uncountable noun).

Future Perfect Progressive: WILL + HAVE + BEEN + -ING VERB

The future perfect progressive is formed with the future modal will, the base verb have, the past participle been, and the -ing form of the main verb. It is used when you think the first future action will continue until the second future action. The following diagram will help illustrate this to your students:

Again, a simple present verb is used in the dependent clause, so students need to determine if the subject requires an -s ending.

Note: If you want to elaborate for more advanced students, you can explain that the future perfect progressive is formed by combining the future perfect (will + have + p.p.) plus the basic progressive pattern (be + -ing verb). Since the past participle of the Be verb is been, you get will + have + been + -ing verb. Also note that have will never be has (no matter what the subject is) because it is always modal + base verb.

Comparison Chart

To compare the two verb tenses and show your students examples, use the following verb chart.

Future Perfect Vs. Future Perfect Progressive – Resource

Grammar & Usage – Future Perfect Vs. Future Progressive

Important Note

When giving your students examples, it is very important to mix up the order of the independent and dependent clauses. Make sure that you give some examples where the independent clause comes first (with the future perfect or future perfect progressive tense), and others where the dependent clause comes first (with the simple present tense).

Point out that when the dependent clause comes first, students must use a comma between the clauses. Showing both types of examples also means that students won’t incorrectly memorize “will + have + been + p.p. first, present verb second,” which can cause errors.

Practice with Ellii Lessons

Try our Grammar Practice Worksheet lesson on the Future Perfect. This lesson has over 16 pages of practice—try using some in class on different days, assign some for homework, and use one or two as a quiz.

We also have a lesson on the Future Perfect Progressive, which includes exercises that combine both tenses. 

Verb Tense Review 2 – The Perfect Tenses contains even more practice exercises that compare these two tenses.

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Comments (51)

my hanh Le(Guest)

Thank you for providing us your useful lesson

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

You're very welcome! Thanks for your comment.

margo (Guest)

I understood it. I really like your explanation.

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thanks, Margo!

nima (Guest)

Thanks for your advice❤

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

You're very welcome, Nima!

Jessica (Guest)

You're really good! Thank you very much!!

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thanks a lot, Jessica!

Juli (Guest)

Awesome thanks!

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

You're welcome, Juli.

Lisa (Guest)

Amazing

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thanks, Lisa!

Shadha (Guest)

I would like to request your permission to use your blog post for my lesson to teach my students about the future perfect and future perfect continuous.

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Shadha,
Yes, go right ahead! Thanks for asking. :)

Batool (Guest)

Thank you?
Beautiful website designe.

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thanks, Batool!

Fae (Guest)

The chart you've shared is really great!
Will you be kind enough to share some explanations on 'perfect form of infinitives'?

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thanks, Fae! That's a great idea for a future blog post. I'll add it to my list and link to it here when it's ready. Cheers!

Varry (Guest)

You've broken it down really well! I am wondering if you would mind doing a post on gerunds vs participles and their usage in respective clauses. Thanks

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

Nathaly (Guest)

Omg, this was very useful, so I want to teach all this to my friends. You are amazing, thank you so much❤

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thank you for the kind words!

Emily (Guest)

The explanations were well indicated.
What is the difference between future progressive and future perfect progressive?

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Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thank you, Emily! For a comparison of the future and the future progressive, see this blog post: https://blog.ellii.com/2013/09/19/simple-future-vs-future-progressive/

Dhiraj Kumar(Guest)

Very helpful..

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    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    I'm happy to hear that! Thank you.

    Asmelash H.(Member)

    I appreciate the approach of your lesson. It's clear and easy to understand.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thank you, Asmelash! I'm happy to hear you found it helpful.

    Lily Lily(Guest)

    Thanks a lot

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome, Lily!

    A A(Guest)

    Excellent

    Reply to Comment

    Tammy Wik(Ellii Staff)

    Glad you found it useful :)

    obaidullah noor(Guest)

    HI, there is a question that I am always confused about. the question is here
    why do we use the future perfect progressive tense, instead we can use the future progressive tense

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    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Obaidullah, this is a great question. The future perfect progressive is not as common as the future progressive. In fact, we can often use the future progressive instead of the future perfect progressive without a change in meaning. The future perfect progressive is more formal, and there is more of an emphasis on the two separate actions, but they're often interchangeable tenses. The only time you really need to use the future perfect progressive instead of the future progressive is with the time marker "by the time." With that time marker that emphasizes the two separate actions, the future perfect progressive sounds much more natural.

    Here are some examples:
    - I will be studying for two hours before you come over. (correct; more common)
    - I will have been studying for two hours before you come over. (correct; more formal)
    - I will be studying for two hours by the time you come over. (not really correct; doesn't sound natural with "by the time")
    - I will have been studying for two hours by the time you come over. (correct; sounds natural with "by the time")

    Molly Shary(Guest)

    Thanks a lot for your explanation. I was a bit confused about these 2 tenses but now you make them very clear.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    That's wonderful to hear, Molly! I'm glad this post helped.

    Deb S.(Teacher)

    Are there any lessons that have this grammar for practice besides the grammar practice worksheets? Thanks

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Deb, thanks for your request. At the moment we only have a few more charts and practice exercises in our resources section and verb tense review lesson (which I'll list below), but I'll let our writers know that teachers are looking for this target in context of a lesson.
    - https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1997
    - https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2157
    - https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2851
    - https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2809
    - https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2808

    Abdul Khaliq A.(Member)

    Thanks
    That was completely helpful.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Abdul, I didn't see your comment earlier and I apologize for the delay in replying! Just wanted to say thanks for your comment and I'm so glad this post was helpful for you.

    Sadra S.(Member)

    Dear Tanya. Thanks for your nice teaching . I really confused them with each other but now i completely know it. It is really good explanation for advanced level like me

    Reply to Comment

    Sadra S.(Member)

    Dear Tanya. Thanks for teaching well this useful grammatical point. I am studying English in high levels and it was excellent explantion. You could be a great teacher

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Sadra, you're very welcome! Thank you for your lovely comments. I'm happy to hear you found this post helpful!

    Himansana Siriwardhana(Guest)

    This is a very clear and perfect lesson. Very explicitly explained.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thanks, Himansana! That's nice to hear.

    Metan B.(Member)

    I had been seeking for a great explanation and I found it. It is very helpful, thanks, Tanya.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thanks a lot, Metan! I'm glad you found it helpful.

    Junique Folks(Guest)

    This was a one-stop-shop for all that I needed for my lesson! Extremely well done work here, thank you.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    That's wonderful to hear. Thanks for your comment!

    Arega Habe(Guest)

    I'm happy with your explanation. Thank you!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    I'm glad to hear that, Arega!

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