Teaching the Future Continuous

Teaching the Future Continuous can be a little tricky because there are two ways to form this verb tense. The first way is like this: subject + will be + -ing. The second way is like this: be going to + be + -ing.

The ESL Future Continuous (or Future Progressive) is used to talk about an activity that will be in progress at a certain point in the future. For example, “I will be eating dinner when you get home,” or “She will be teaching an ESL class at 6:30 p.m.,” or “I’m going to bed at 11:30, so I’m going to be sleeping at midnight,” or “They’re going to be playing tennis in the afternoon.”

Sometimes, the Simple Future can be used instead of the Future Continuous with little or no difference in meaning.

See ESL Future Continuous for a thorough discussion of the ESL Future Continuous and ideas for teaching adult ESL students this advanced verb tense.

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