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Future progressive

Grammar

shall/will + be + …ing

Events in progress in the future​

We can use the future progressive to say that something will be in progress (happening) at a particular moment in the future.

  • This time tomorrow I’ll be lying on the beach.
  • Good luck with the exam. We’ll be thinking of you.

Events that are fixed or expected to happen​

The future progressive is often used to refer to future events which are fixed or decided, or which are expected to happen in the normal course of events.

  • Professor Baxter will be giving another lecture on Roman glass-making at the same time next week.
  • I’ll be seeing you one of these days, I expect.

This is useful if we want to show that we are not talking about making decisions, but about things that will happen ‘anyway’.

  • ‘Shall I pick up the laundry for you?’ ‘Oh, no, don’t make a special journey.’ ‘It’s OK. I’ll be going to the shops anyway.’

The tense can be used to make polite enquiries about people’s plans. (By using the future progressive to ask ‘What have you already decided?’, the speaker shows that he/she does not want to influence the listener’s intentions.) Compare:

  • Will you be staying in this evening? (very polite enquiry, suggesting ‘I simply want to know your plans’)
  • Are you going to stay in this evening? (pressing for a decision)

This usage is possible with verbs that do not normally have progressive forms (see here).

  • Will you be wanting lunch tomorrow?

Progressive form with going to​

A progressive form of the going to structure is also possible.

  • I’m going to be working all day tomorrow, so I won’t have time to shop.
note

For will be …ing used to express certainty about the present (e.g. Don’t phone now – they’ll be having lunch), (see here).