Future Perfect Continuous and the Future in the Past
I'll have been living here for ten years · She knew it would rain · I was about to call · be bound to
Building on B2
Two more futures, seen from a point in time
At B2: I'll be working (in progress) and I'll have finished (completed by then). C1 adds duration up to a future point, the future seen from the past, and formal ways to say what is planned or certain.
Future perfect continuous
How long, by a future point
will have been + -ing + for …
By June, I'll have been working here for ten years.
You'll have been travelling all day — you'll be exhausted.
Also for a likely result of an activity.
The future in the past
Looking forward from a past moment
would
She knew she would be late.
was about to
I was about to call you when you rang.
was to
He was to become the youngest champion ever. (it really happened)
was to have
The ceremony was to have taken place outdoors. (planned, but didn't happen)
be about to · be due to · be on the point of
Very near or scheduled
Hurry — the film is about to start.
The plane is due to land at 6.40.
She was on the point of giving up when she found it.
be bound to · be set to · be to
Certain, expected, official
be bound to
It's bound to rain — it always does at weddings.
be set to
The film is set to break box-office records.
be to (formal)
All passengers are to remain seated. · The President is to visit Spain.
Common mistakes
Where learners go wrong most often
By 2030 I will be living here for twenty years.
→
By 2030 I will have been living here for twenty years.
duration up to a future point
I was about calling you.
→
I was about to call you.
be about to + infinitive
She knew she will win.
→
She knew she would win.
future seen from the past → would
It's bound raining tomorrow.
→
It's bound to rain tomorrow.
be bound to + infinitive
Your turn
Answer out loud — full sentences
Use the C1 future forms.
1
By the end of this year, how long will you have been studying English?
2
Tell me about a time you were about to do something when you were interrupted.
3
What is bound to happen in your country in the next few years?
4
Describe a plan that was to have happened but didn't.