Future Perfect Continuous Tense

December 20, 2013 by Bret Tutor

Future Perfect Continuous Tense

How Do We Make The Future Perfect Continuous Tense?

Below you will find the structure of the future perfect continuous:

subject	+	auxiliary verb WILL	+	auxiliary verb HAVE	+	auxiliary verb BE	+	main verb
		invariable		invariable		past participle		present participle
		will		have		been		base + ing

Question sentences using the future perfect continuous tense require us to exchange the subject and will. Negative sentences in this tense require us to insert not between will and have. Below are some examples of the future perfect continuous tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		auxiliary verb	main verb
+	They	will		have	been	cooking	all afternoon.
+	He	will		have	been	flying	for 12 hours.
–	We	will	not	have	been	sewing	with the sewing machine.
–	She	will	not	have	been	expecting	your call.
?	Will (auxiliary verb)	they(subject)		have	been	watching	the baby?
?	Will (auxiliary verb)	she(subject)		have	been	cooking	dinner?

In using the future perfect continuous tense in conversation, most people contract the subject and auxiliary verb:

I will	I’ll
you will	you’ll
he will	he’ll
she will	she’ll
it will	it’ll
we will	we’ll
they will	they’ll

Negative sentences using the future perfect continuous tense also use the contraction won’t:

I will not	I won’t
you will not	you won’t
he will not	he won’t
she will not	she won’t
it will not	it won’t
we will not	we won’t
they will not	they won’t

Use Of Future Perfect Continuous Tense

When we need to talk about a long activity that will happen before a specific time in the future we use the future perfect continuous tense. For example:

Jane will have been sleeping for two hours by the time you arrive.
She will need a shower when she gets here. She will have been working at the hospital all day.

[slickquiz id=39]

Future Continuous Tense

December 20, 2013 by Bret Tutor

Future Continuous Tense

How do we make the Future Continuous Tense?

The future continuous tense follows this structure:

subject	+	auxiliary verb WILL	+	auxiliary verb BE	+	main verb
		invariable		invariable		present participle
		will		be		base + ing

Question sentences in the future continuous tense require us to exchange the subject and will. Negative sentences in the future continuous tense require us to add not between will and be. See below for examples of the future continuous tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		auxiliary verb	main verb
+	They	will		be	eating	at Joe’s Restaurant.
+	She	will		be	playing	soccer at the park.
–	You	will	not	be	driving	to school.
–	They	will	not	be	hosting	a Halloween party.
?	Will(auxiliary verb)	they(subject)		be	running	a marathon?
?	Will(auxiliary verb)	she(subject)		be	playing	video games?

In the future continuous tense the subject and will are often contracted when we speak:

I will	I’ll
you will	you’ll
he will	he’ll
she will	she’ll
it will	it’ll
we will	we’ll
they will	they’ll

When speaking in negative sentences, the future continuous tense allows us to use won’t as shown below:

I will not	I won’t
you will not	you won’t
he will not	he won’t
she will not	she won’t
it will not	it won’t
we will not	we won’t
they will not	they won’t

How do we use the Future Continuous Tense?

The future continuous tense describes an activity that is taking place at a specific moment in the future. The activity will begin before the moment you are referring to and will continue after that moment. For example, consider that I go to school at 9 a.m. tomorrow and leave school at 11:30 a.m.:

At 10 a.m. tomorrow, I will be at school.
past	present	future
		9 a.m.—– 10 a.m. ——11:30 a.m.
		At 10 a.m. I will be at school.

When we use the future continuous tense the time of which we are talking about is usually understood by the person listening to our conversation. Here are more examples of the future continuous tense:

She will be watching TV tomorrow at noon.
You won’t be eating dinner at 8:30 p.m.
What will she be watching on TV tonight?
What will they be studying before I get there?
He will not be sleeping when you come home.
They will be eating snacks when the party begins.
Bring your dancing shoes. The music will be playing when you get to the party.

[slickquiz id=38]

Future Simple Tense

December 19, 2013 by Bret Tutor

Future Simple Tense

The future simple tense is formed with the modal auxiliary will. That is the reason why we often call the future simple tense will or will tense.

How Is The Future Simple Tense Formed?

The future simple tense follows the structure described below:

subject	+	auxiliary verb WILL	+	main verb
		invariable		base
		will		V1

Question sentences in the future simple tense require us to exchange the auxiliary verb and the subject. Sentences that are negative sentences require us to add not between the auxiliary and main verb. Below are examples of the future simple tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	She	will		buy	the food.
+	I	will		arrive	tomorrow.
–	They	will	not	eat	anything with peanuts.
–	You	will	not	paint	the room today.
?	Will(auxiliary verb)	they(subject)		fly	to Paris?
?	Will(auxiliary verb)	you(subject)		request	a bigger bed?

It is common to contract the subject and the auxiliary verb when we are using the future simple tense in conversation:

I will	I’ll
you will	you’ll
he will	he’ll
she will	she’ll
it will	it’ll
we will	we’ll
they will	they’ll

If you are speaking using a negative sentence, the contraction to use is won’t as shown in the examples below:

I will not	I won’t
you will not	you won’t
he will not	he won’t
she will not	she won’t
it will not	it won’t
we will not	we won’t
they will not	they won’t

When Should The Future Simple Tense Be Used?

When There Is No Plan

The future simple tense is used when we impulsively make a decision as we speak. It is not used to express a plan we have made ahead of time. Instead, it is used for something that we think of at the moment. Here are a few examples of the future simple tense used when there is n0 plan:

Wait. I will go with you.
They will see what they need to do.
Maybe we will eat some ice cream and stop by your house.

The examples above show how there was no plan in place before we started speaking. Rather, decisions were made as we spoke. The future simple tense is used very often with the verb think as in the examples below:

I think I will buy those shoes.
They think they will go to the Fair tonight.
We don’t think we will join them for dinner.

For Predictions

The future simple tense is very useful in making predictions. Although there is no certainty or plan for the future, we use the future simple tense to share our thoughts of what we think will happen. For example:

You will be late to the party.
He won’t go to college if he doesn’t study.
Who will make it to the next round?

The Main Verb Is Be

The future simple tense can be used with the verb be to express a decision or concrete action we will take. For example:

He will be driving at 5:00 p.m.
They will be in town, but they won’t be joining you for dinner.
Will you be comfortable in this room?

[slickquiz id=36]

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

December 19, 2013 by Bret Tutor

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Constructing the Past Perfect Continuous Tense

To construct the past perfect continuous tense, use the guidelines below:

subject	+	auxiliary verb HAVE	+	auxiliary verb BE	+	main verb
		conjugated in simple past tense		past participle		present participle
		had		been		base + ing

The past perfect continuous tense for sentences that are negative are constructed by placing not after the first auxiliary verb. To form a question in past perfect continuous tense we switch the places of the first auxiliary verb and the subject. Below are some examples of sentences using past perfect continuous tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		auxiliary verb	main verb
+	Bill	had		been	skiing.
+	She	had		been	working.
–	We	had	not	been	skiing	today.
–	It	had	not	been	raining.
?	Had(auxiliary verb)	they(subject)		been	working?
?	Had(auxiliary verb)	he(subject)		been	skiing?

When we communicate using the past perfect continuous tense, we often contract the first auxiliary verb and the subject:

they had been	they’d been
we had been	we’d been
it had been he had been she had been	it’d been he’d been she’d been
you had been	you’d been
I had been	I’d been

Using the Past Perfect Continuous Tense

The past perfect continuous tense is similar to the past perfect tense, except it illustrates a longer action that occurred in the past before another action that occurred in the past.

Look at the first two sentences that are used to form a past perfect continuous sentence in the third sentence:

Jim started working 7am.
I arrived at 10am.
By the time I arrived, Jim had been working for three hours. (past perfect continuous)

By the time I arrived, Jim had been working for three hours.
past	present	future
Jim started working at 7am in the past.
7am 10am ______________________________
I arrived at 10am in the past.

Here are a few more examples of the past perfect continuous tense:

I was sleepy at work. I had been working on the project all night.
John was winded because he had been jogging.
Jack crashed his car yesterday. He had been drinking with his friends.
Had he been sleeping well?

The past perfect continuous tense can be seen like the present perfect continuous tense at times. The difference is the past point of view instead of a now point of view.
For example, imagine meeting your friend and she says:

I am upset that you’ve already eaten. I have been wanting to take you to dinner.

Later, you tell another friend:

Sara was upset because she had been wanting to take me to dinner.

[slickquiz id=35]

Past Perfect Tense

December 19, 2013 by Bret Tutor

Past Perfect Tense

When we discuss the past in the past we use the past perfect tense. Use it to talk about one event or action in the past that happened before another one in the past.

How do we make the Past Perfect Tense?

The following guideline is used to construct the past perfect tense:

subject	+	auxiliary verb HAVE	+	main verb
		conjugated in simple past tense		past participle
		had		V3

To create negative sentences using past perfect tense, place not between the main and auxiliary verbs. To ask a question, switch the place of the subject and auxiliary verb. For example, the following sentences are all in the past perfect tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	She	had		worked	Christmas Eve.
+	I	had		played	before.
–	We	had	not	eaten	dinner.
–	She	had	not	worked	that day.
?	Had (auxiliary verb)	they (subject)		played	before?
?	Had (auxiliary verb)	you (subject)		seen	them before?

To communicate in the past perfect tense, we often contract the subject and the auxiliary verb:

She had He had	She’d He’d
I had	I’d
We had They had	We’d They’d

How Do We Use The Past Perfect Tense?

The past perfect tense is used to illustrate an action in the past that occurred before another action in the past, or the past in the past. Look at the first two sentences and how they form an example of the past perfect tense in the third sentence:

We ate dinner at 6pm.
The movie started at 7pm.
When the movie started, we had eaten dinner. (past perfect)

When the movie started we had eaten dinner.
past	present	future
The movie started in the past at 7pm.
6pm 7pm __________ _____________
We ate in the past at 6pm.

Here are a few more examples:

I won the game because I had played it before.
We arrived late, we had missed our bus.
I had arrived earlier than Jim.
I had already finished dinner when she called.
Jenny did not know him. She had never seen him before today.

The past perfect tense can be thought of as the present perfect tense. The difference is that the point of view is in the past instead of now.

past perfect tense			present perfect tense
had seen >				has seen >
___________				______
past	now	future	past	now	future

Imagine that your friend asked you to dinner, but you tell her:

I have already eaten dinner.

Later, she says to another friend the following in the past perfect tense:

I asked Bob to go to dinner, but he had already eaten.

When we use reported speech we often use the past perfect tense. There are certain verbs such as imagined, thought, wondered, asked, told and said that are used in this type of structure.

I told them I had been ill.
She explained that she had missed her bus.
I didn’t realize they had met before.
I asked if she had eaten yet.
She wondered when she had met him before.

[slickquiz id=32]