Future Tense and Its Types

What is Tense?

The term tense is derived from Latin word ‘Tempus” meaning time. Tense is used to indicate time in English language. It has been broadly classified into three groups – Present Tense, Past Tense and Future Tense.

Let’s learn more about Future Tense and Its Types:

Future Simple Tense

This is used when an action is going to take place in future.
Example: I will go there tomorrow.

Sentence Formation:
Here, auxiliary verb ‘will’ and first form of verb are used.

Positive: They will come here
Negative: They will not come here
Interrogative: Will they come here?

Future Continuous Tense

It is used to express a continued or ongoing action in future.

Example: I will be waiting for you tomorrow.

Sentence Formation:
Here, auxiliary verb ‘will be’ and first form of verb along with present participle ‘ing’ are used.

Positive: I will be waiting for you.
Negative: I will not be waiting for you.
Interrogative: Will I be waiting for you?

Future perfect Tense

This indicates an action which will occur and completed in future.

Example: John will have gone tomorrow.

Sentence Formation:
Here, auxiliary verb ‘will have’ and third form of verb (past particle) are used.

Positive: You will have started a job.
Negative: You will not have started a job.
Interrogative: Will you have started a job?

Future Perfect Continuous

It is used to indicate an ongoing action which will start and continue for sometime in future.

Example: He will have been playing in this team since 2006
In this case, auxiliary verb ‘will have been’, first form of verb along with present participle and time reference ‘for’ and ‘since’ are used.

Positive: I will have been waiting for him for three hours.
Negative: I will not have been waiting for him for three hours.
Interrogative: Will she have been playing cricket since 2014?

Read here related articles Types of Past Tense and Present Tense.