Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Future perfect continuous tense describes an action that will continue over a period of time in the future. In this tense, after 'shall/will', 'have been' is used, followed by the fourth form (V4), the continuous form of the verb. The structure of the sentence is:

Subject + shall/will + have been + V4 (ing form of verb) + other words

Examples:

• I shall have been dancing.
• We shall have been playing.
• You will have been reading for six hours.
• They will have been teaching in this school for twenty years.
• He /she will have been living here for four years.
• By the end of this year, I will have been completing my work.
• By 12^th March we will have been painting this wall for the next two months.

Future perfect continuous tense in all kinds of sentences

1. Affirmative sentence: In the affirmative sentence of future perfect continuous tense, 'have been' is used, followed by the fourth form (V4) of the verb. The structure of the sentence is;

Subject + shall/will + have been + V4 + other words

Examples:

• I shall have been baking the cake.
• We shall have been baking the cake.
• You will have been baking the cake.
• He/she will have been baking the cake.
• They will have been baking the cake.
• John will have been baking the cake.
• Girls will have been baking the cake.
• I will have been completing my project until next week of this month.
• By this month, we will have been preparing for our coming examination.

2. Negative sentence: In the negative sentence of future perfect continuous tense, 'not' is used before 'have been'. The structure of the sentence is:

Subject + shall/will + not + have been + V4 + other words.

Examples:

• I shall not have been baking the cake.
• We shall not have been baking the cake.
• You will not have been baking the cake.
• He/she will not have been baking the cake.
• They will not have been baking the cake.
• John will not have been baking the cake.
• Girls will not have been baking the cake.
• I will not have been completing my project until the next week of this month.
• We will not have been preparing for our coming examination by this month.

3. Interrogative sentence: In the interrogative sentence of future perfect continuous tense, 'shall/will' is used before the subject, and 'have been' is used after the subject. The structure of the sentence is:

Shall/will + subject + have been + V4 + other words

Examples:

• Shall I have been baking the cake?
• Shall we have been baking the cake?
• Will you have been baking the cake?
• Will he/she have been baking the cake?
• Will they have been baking the cake?
• Will john have been baking the cake?
• Will girls have been baking the cake?
• Shall I have been completing my project until next week of this month?
• By this month, shall we have been preparing for our coming examination?

4. Negative interrogative sentence: In the negative interrogative sentence of future perfect continuous tense, 'not' is used between the subjects and 'have been'. The structure of the sentence is:

Shall/will + subject + not + have been + V4 + other words

Examples:

• Shall I not have been baking the cake?
• Shall we not have been baking the cake?
• Will you not have been baking the cake?
• Will he/she not have been baking the cake?
• Will they not have been baking the cake?
• Will john not have been baking the cake?
• Will girls not have been baking the cake?
• Shall I not have been completing my project until next week of this month?
• By this month, shall we not have been preparing for our coming examination?

Uses of future perfect continuous tense

• It is used to describe an action that will continue over a certain period of time in the future. This tense tells about that action which is in progress for a long time in the future.

Example: By next year, he will have been preparing for the IAS examination for two years. Raj will have been working in his new company for five years.

Note: This tense expresses both the continuing and completing action in the future. It means the time duration will be complete, but the action will be continuing.

Example: By 7 o'clock, the soldiers will have been doing their duty for 20 hours.