SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

The simple Future tense is used to indicate an action that will take place in the future.

The guests will soon be here.

We shall go to Colorado next week.

Who will help me set the dinner?

They will attack at dawn.

Tomorrow will be Thursday.

SENTENCE TYPE	STRUCTURE	EXAMPLE
Positive	Subject + will/shall +V1 + Object	I shall like ice-cream.
Interrogative	Will/shall + Subject + V1 + Object?	Shall  I like ice-cream?
Negative	Subject + will/shall+ not + V1 + Object	I shall not like ice-cream.

Situational use

1. To express an action that will take place in the future – I shall go there tomorrow.
2. With clauses of condition and time – He will miss the train unless he drives fast.
3. For announcing a decision– I will buy a new laptop.
4. For expressing hopes, expectations, promises – I think she will be very successful one day.
5. For giving instructions through questions – Will you be quiet?
6. With actions associated with adverbial phrases of a future time – My father will be sixty in March.

[ We use ‘shall’ with ‘I’ and ‘we’ and ‘ will’ with ‘ I, you, we, he, she, it, they’]

FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE

 Future Continuous tense is used to indicate some action that will be going on at some point of time in the future.

I shall be reading a book in the evening.

I wonder what she will be doing tomorrow.

Her children will be waiting to greet her at the airport.

We shall be celebrating her birthday when she returns home.

We shall be travelling all night.

When will you be visiting again?

By this time tomorrow, I shall be lying on the beach in Hawai.

SENTENCE TYPE	STRUCTURE	EXAMPLE
Positive	Subject + will/shall + be + V4(-ing form of verb) + Object	I will be eating ice-cream.
Interrogative	Will/shall + Subject+ be + V4 + Object?	Will I be eating ice-cream?
Negative	Subject + will/shall + not+ be + V4 + Object	I will not be eating ice-cream.

Situational use

1. For expressing events in progress in the future – I shall be seeing you tomorrow at this time.
2. For predicting the present – Don’t disturb-he will be sleeping now.
3. For predicting a natural course of events – The train will be arriving soon.
4. For polite inquiries – Will you be staying here for a few days?
5. For expressing pre-decided future plans – I am going to Rome on Sunday.

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

Future Perfect tense is used to indicate the completion of action by a certain time in the future.

By this time next year he will have taken his university degree.

I shall have finished this novel by tomorrow.

In August he will have stayed here for two years.

He will have submitted his project by next month.

The builders will have completed their work by Tuesday.

SENTENCE TYPE	STRUCTURE	EXAMPLE
Positive	Subject + will/shall + have + V3(past participle) + Object	I shall have eaten ice-cream.
Interrogative	Will/shall + Subject+ have + V3 + Object?	Will I have eaten ice-cream?
Negative	Subject + will +not + have + V3 + Object	I will not have eaten ice-cream.

Situational use

1. To indicate actions that will be completed before a certain time in the future – I shall have finished my homework by 8 o’clock.
2. For predicting the present – He will have left by now.
3. For expressing past in the future – Tomorrow he will have been 80.

FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE 

Future Perfect Continuous Tense indicates an action represented as being in progress over a period of time that will end in the future.

He will have been making preparations for his wedding for two months by July.

You will have been learning Sanskrit for two years by next month.

They will have been living in Iran for three years by the end of the year.

I shall have been teaching you for half an hour by the time this lesson ends.

They will have been playing for two hours by the time you reach there.

SENTENCE TYPE	STRUCTURE	EXAMPLE
Positive	Subject + will/shall + have + been + V4(-ing form of verb) + Obj	I will have been working for an hour by then.
Interrogative	Will/shall + Subject+ have + been + V4 + Object?	Will I have been working for an hour by then?
Negative	Subject + will/shall+ not +been+ V4 + Object	I will not have been running for an hour by then.

Situational use

1. To indicate actions that will continue and will be finished sometime in future– He will have been teaching here for ten years by April.

Other ways to Express Future Tense

Future tense can be expressed in several other ways:

1. Simple Present Tense – He retires next month.
2. Present Continuous Tense – I am inviting them next week.
3. Be + about to – The plane is about to land.
4. Be + going to –  He is going to be a doctor.
5. Be + (infinitive) verb – The President is to visit China next week.

FUTURE TENSE OF INTENTION – ‘Going to‘

‘Going to’ is used to indicate:

• Intention

We are going to spend our holidays in Kashmir this summer.

I’m going to have my own way.

When are you going to finish your homework?

They are going to sow pulses this year.

We are going to have a new car soon.

• To state something that is probable or likely to happen.

Look out! The ice beneath you is going to crack.

There is going to be a recession this year.

How long is this pandemic going to continue?

It is going to rain tonight.

He is running fast, he is going to win.

• For stating future actions without reference to external circumstances.

I am going to tell you a story.

She is going to have a baby. 

He is going to be a chef.

• For stating past events which was past at that moment.

When he found her, she was going to drown.

The last time we met you were going to open a start up.

[ Always use the root form of the verb with- going to:  Going to + V1:     Going to + eat]

Que Sera Sera/ Whatever will be, will be/ The future is not ours to see/ Que Sera Sera/ Whatever will be, will be.

Doris Day