Future Tense: Meaning, Types, Structure, Examples & Exercise [With Answers]

Somewhere it is in the human bones to keep our fingers crossed and believe in what lies beyond our present. After all, the future is like another side of a coin called ‘Hope’, and thus we cannot skip the excitement of an upcoming plan or worry over our aspirations. But, have you ever wondered how crucial it is to learn about Future Tense and its rules to discuss any upcoming event, plan or aspirations? If not, then fling yourself into this article till the very end and learn all about the rules, structure and meaning of Future Tense with examples to speak like a grammar nazi from hereon.

Learn All About Tenses Rules and Examples in English Grammar Here!

What is Future Tense?

When we go by the books, the future tense is a grammatical tool that helps you to discuss or talk about things that will happen in the future. Its formation includes the auxiliary verbs “will” or “shall” with the base form of the verb.

Let’s apply this future tense definition in an example to see how it works:

I will eat lunch.
She will go to the store.

Types of Future Tense

Once you dig deeper into its meaning, you will experience that the Future Tense also indicates actions in four different forms, which are tabulated below:

Types of Past Tense	Definition and Example
Simple Future Tense	Describes an action or event that will happen in the future or after the current moment. Example: He will not attend the meeting.
Future Continuous Tense	Refers to actions or events that will occur in the future and will continue for a period of time. Example: I will be watching soccer tomorrow evening.
Future Perfect Tense	Describes an action that will be completed at some point in the future before another action or time in the future. Example: I shall have completed my project before the deadline.
Future Perfect Continuous Tense	Describes actions or events that will have been ongoing for a specified duration at a point in the future.  Example: I won’t have been working for 12 hours by the time my shift ends.

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Structure of Future Tense

Now take a closer look to observe and learn from the examples and formulas in the following image. This will help you to be well-versed in the structure and usage of the Future Tense.

Future Tense Rules

In order to learn more about the Future Tense formula, let’s take a look at the changes in its auxiliary verbs when it transitions from positive to negative and interrogative sentences: 

Types	Positive	Negative	Interrogative	Negative Interrogative
Simple Future	Subject + will/shall + Present Participle (V1) + Object	Subject + will/shall + not + Present Participle (V1) + Object	Will/shall + Subject + Present Participle (V1) + Object?	Will/shall + Subject + not + Present Participle (V1) + Object?
Example	He will work late at night.	He will not work late at night.	Will he work late at night?	Will he not work late at night?
Future Continuous	Subject + will/shall be + V(1st form + ing) + Object	Subject + will/shall + not + be + V(1st form + ing) + Object	Will/shall + Subject + be + V(1st form + ing) + Object?	Will/shall + Subject + not be + V(1st form + ing) + Object?
Example	They will be playing football when it starts raining.	They will not be playing football when it starts raining.	Will they be playing football when it starts raining?	Will they not be playing football when it starts raining?
Future Perfect	Subject + will/shall + have + Past Participle (V3) + Object	Subject + will/shall + not + have + Past Participle (V3) + Object	Will/Shall + Subject + have + Past Participle (V3) + Object?	Will/Shall + Subject + not have + Past Participle (V3) + Object?
Example	She will have completed her project before the deadline.	She will not have completed her project before the deadline.	Will she have completed her project before the deadline?	Will she not have completed her project before the deadline?
Future Perfect Continuous	Subject + will/shall + be + Verb (V1+ing) + for/since (time) + Object	Subject + will/shall + not be + Verb (V1+ing) + for/since (time) + Object	Will/shall + Subject + be + Verb (V1+ing) + for/since (time) + Object?	Will/shall + Subject + not be + Verb (V1+ing) + for/since (time) + Object?
Example	He will be coming to visit us next week.	He will not be coming to visit us next week.	Will he be coming to visit us next week?	Will he not be coming to visit us next week?

Future Tense Examples

You should also not miss out on checking these hand-picked examples of the tense. So that, the next time you encounter a sentence with future tense, you can easily differentiate them. 

Examples of Simple Future Tense

Since you are already familiar with the simple Future tense rules, [Subject + will/shall + Present Participle (V1) + Object]. Now, take a look at the examples below to observe the formula:

1. I will go to the store tomorrow.
2. She will cook dinner for us tonight.
3. He will study for his exam tomorrow morning.
4. They will play soccer this weekend.
5. We will watch a movie on Friday night.
6. The sun will rise at 6:00 AM tomorrow.
7. The train will arrive at 10:00 PM.
8. The meeting will start at 11:00 AM.
9. The weather will be sunny tomorrow.
10. I will be happy to see you again.

Examples of Future Continuous Tense

Next, you should analyse the rules for Future Continuous Tense, [Subject + will/shall be + V(1st form + ing) + Object] in the following sentences:

1. I will be working on my project at 7:00 PM tomorrow.
2. She will be cooking dinner when you arrive.
3. He will be studying for his exam all day on Saturday.
4. They will be playing basketball at the park next week.
5. We will be watching the movie at 8:00 PM tonight.
6. The sun will be shining brightly when we go to the beach tomorrow.
7. The train will be arriving at the station at 10:00 AM.
8. The meeting will be starting at 11:00 AM.
9. The weather will be raining all day on Sunday.
10. I will be travelling to Europe next summer.
11. She will be living in New York City in five years.

Examples of Future Perfect Tense

As per the rules of Future Perfect Tense [Subject + will/shall + have + Past Participle (V3) + Object] the sentence formation of the tense will be as follows:

1. I will have finished my homework by the time you come home.
2. She will have graduated from college by next year.
3. He will have moved to a new house by the end of the month.
4. They will have finished building the new bridge by the summer.
5. We will have eaten dinner by the time you get here.
6. The plane will have landed by the time you arrive at the airport.
7. The meeting will have ended by the time I get there.
8. The weather will have cleared up by the time we go outside.
9. I will have learned everything I need to know for the test by next week.
10. She will have written her book by the end of the year.

Examples of Future Perfect Continuous Tense

The last and the trickiest part in the House of Tenses is none other than the Future Perfect Continuous Tense[Subject + will/shall + be + Verb (V1+ing) + for/since (time) + Object]. So let’s take a look at how it fits in a sentence through the following example:

1. I will have been working on this project for two hours by the time you arrive.
2. She will have been living in New York for five years by the time she graduates from college.
3. He will have been studying for his exam all day by the time it starts.
4. They will have been playing football at the park all afternoon by the time we get there.
5. We will have been waiting for the bus for half an hour by the time it comes.
6. The sun will have been shining brightly all day by the time we go to the beach tomorrow.
7. The train will have been arriving at the station for 10 minutes by the time we get there.
8. The meeting will have been starting for 15 minutes by the time I arrive.
9. The weather will have been raining all day by the time we get home.
10. I will have been travelling to Europe for two weeks by the time I return.

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Future Tense Exercises with Answers

It’s time to solve the following Future Tense Exercises and check how far you have come with your learning of the tenses.

Exercise 1 

Fill in the blanks with the correct future tense of the verbs:

1. By the end of the year, I will ____________________ (graduate) from high school.
2. She will ____________________ (have moved) to a new city by next summer.
3. He will ____________________ (have finished) writing his book by the end of the decade.
4. They will ____________________ (have built) a new bridge by the time you come back to visit.
5. We will ____________________ (have been working) on this project for two years by the time it is completed.

Exercise 2

Rewrite the following sentences using the future perfect continuous tense:

1. I will be working on this project for two hours by the time you arrive.
2. She will have been living in New York for five years by the time she graduates from college.
3. He will have been studying for his exam all day by the time it starts.
4. They will have been playing football at the park all afternoon by the time we get there.
5. We will have been waiting for the bus for half an hour by the time it comes.

Check Your Answers

Exercise 1: 1. will have graduated 2. have moved 3. have finished writing 4. have built 5. have been working

Exercise 2: 1. I will have been working on this project for two hours by the time you arrive. 2. She will have been living in New York for five years by the time she graduates from college. 3. He will have been studying for his exam all day by the time it starts. 4. They will have been playing football at the park all afternoon by the time we get there. 5. We will have been waiting for the bus for half an hour by the time it comes.

Exercise 3: 1. I will have finished my work by the time I go home. 2. She will have graduated from college by the time she finds a job. 3. He will have built a house by the time he starts a family. 4. They will have finished building the bridge by the time we are able to cross the river. 5. We will have finished waiting for the bus by the time we go to school.

Learn About All Types of Tenses Here!

Present Tense	Past Tense	Future Tense
Simple Present Tense	Simple Past Tense	Simple Future Tense
Present Continuous Tense	Past Continuous Tense	Future Continuous Tense
Present Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Tense
Present Perfect Continuous Tense	Past Perfect ContinuousTense	Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Present Unreal (Second Conditional)	Past Unreal (Third Conditional)	Future Unreal (Mixed Conditional)

This was all about the Future Tense Example, rules and more. Hope you understand the concept and where it’s used. You can also follow Leverage Edu for more exciting and informative blogs.