Will have been doing

  • B2 · Upper-intermediate
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min
  • future perfect continuous

The future perfect continuous for how long something will have gone on by a moment in the future: By the time we land, we'll have been flying for about nineteen hours. The student hears a vlog from a New York–Singapore flight, plans a dance-a-thon, and talks through a long day ahead, checkpoint by checkpoint.

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will have been doingforby the time

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Listen: the longest flightListening comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find the future perfect continuousGrammar exercise
  6. 6will have been + -ingGrammar rule
  7. 7Which form?Grammar exercise
  8. 8The dance-a-thonGrammar exercise
  9. 9Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  10. 10Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
  11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  12. 12Your longest daySpeaking practice
  13. 13About youGrammar exercise
  14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: the road tripGrammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: which sentence is correct?Grammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: build the sentencesGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: an anniversary speechDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. What is the longest you have ever spent on a plane, a train or a bus? How did you pass the time?
  2. What do you usually do to stay comfortable on a long trip?
  3. Have you ever traveled a long way for a family celebration? Where did you go?

Grammar rule

will have been + -ing

Example
PositiveThis summer, my grandfather will have been fishing on the same lake for sixty years.
NegativeThe new manager won't have been working here long when the busy season starts.
QuestionHow long will the team have been training together by the final?
Short formsI'll have been, she'll have been, won't have been

When do we use it?

For how long an activity will have gone on at a moment in the future. We imagine that moment and look back: the activity goes on up to it, and often after it. Show the moment with by, by the time, when or in + a month or year, and the length with for or since.

will have done or will have been doing?

  • A total, a number, a finished result → will have + past participle: By then, he'll have written three books.
  • How long an activity will have lasted → will have been + -ing: By then, he'll have been writing for twenty years.

Watch out

  • After by the time and when, the present simple: By the time the show will start → By the time the show starts.
  • State verbs (know, own, be, have = own) stay simple: By June, I'll have known my best friend for twenty years. (not will have been knowing)
  • All four parts: will + have + been + -ing. Not will have sleeping, not will been sleeping.
  • For what will be going on at one moment, with no "how long", use will be + -ing: At midnight, I'll be sleeping.

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