
Form of the
Future Progressive Tense
The Future Progressive is
formed with will/shall + be + the -ing form:
I will/shall (I'll) be
>
You will (You'll) be >
He will (He'll) be >
She will (She'll) be > expecting you/me.
It will (It'll) be >
We will/shall (We'll) be >
You will (You'll) be >
They will (They'll) be >
Uses of the
Future Progressive Tense
1.
Actions in progress in the future
The most
common use of the progressive form is to describe actions which will be
in progress in the immediate or distant future:
It is
often used for visualizing a future activity already planned:
2. The
'softening effect' of the Future Progressive
-
Sometimes
the Future Progressive is used to describe simple futurity, but with
a 'softening effect' that takes away the element of deliberate
intention often implied by will:
-
I'll
work on this tomorrow. (intention, possibly a promise)
-
I'll
be working on this tomorrow. (futurity)
In some
contexts, the Future Progressive sounds more polite than will,
especially in questions when we do not wish to appear to be pressing for
a definite answer:
Sometimes
there really is a difference in meaning:
-
Mary
won't pay this bill. (she refuses to)
-
Mary
won't be paying this bill. (futurity)
-
Will
you join us for dinner? (invitation)
-
Will
you be joining us for dinner? (futurity)
-
Won't
you come with us? (invitation)
-
Won't
you be coming with us? (futurity)
3.
Arrangements and plans
The
Future Progressive can be used like the Present Progressive to refer to
planned events, particularly in connection with travel:
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