Sometimes called Perfect Continuous Future, the Future Perfect Continuous is a Verb Tense associated with the Future Tense in English.
We use Future Perfect Continuous when you want to speak about an event that will happen and continue in a particular time in the future. The Future Perfect tense indicates that an action is in the future relative to the speaker.
Quick Example (will)
He will have been waiting for a long time when we arrive.
He won’t have been waiting for a long time when we arrive.
Will he have been waiting for a long time when we arrive?
Quick Example (going to)
He is going to have been waiting for a long time when we arrive.
He is not going to have been waiting for a long time when we arrive.
Is he going tohave been waiting for a long time when we arrive?
Form (will)
I – you – he – she – it – we – you – they
will have been + verb + ing
Form (going to)
I
he – she – it
you – we – you – they
am + going to have been + verb + ing
is + going to have been + verb + ing
are + going to have been + verb + ing
Common Signal Words*
By…
By the time…
Tomorrow
By then…
The day after tomorrow
Next week
Next month
in two years
in 2035
Probably
*ATTENTION: These signal words are just an indication that the future form can be used.
Use
Cause of something or an action in the future
Duration before something or an action in the future
1. Cause of something or an action in the future
By the time she gets home, her maid is going to have been cleaning the house for 3 hours.
John will be tired when he gets home because he will have been jogging for over two hours.
2. Duration before something or an action in the future
Mary will have been teaching at the school for more than 3 years by the time he leaves for Europe.
By May, my father will have been working at the same company for thirty years.
How long will you have been studying when you graduate?
