The future looks ahead in time to events that have not yet happened.
The future tense of any verb is created by inserting the word “will” or “shall” in front of the verb, so the forms for all subjects are the same.
Because it is created by inserting a form of “will” or “shall,” there are no irregularities.
The use of “shall” implies a requirement that the action be completed. In contracts or legal terms, it is binding.
Examples:
- I will/shall want
- You will/shall want
- He/she/it will/shall want
Examples with contractions:
- I’ll want
- You’ll want
- He/she/it’ll want
- We will/shall want
- You will/shall want
- They will/shall want
” ‘ll” works for “will” and “shall”
- We’ll want
- You’ll want
- They’ll want
Examples of simple future:
- I will train my horse every morning.
- I’ll train my horse every morning.
- We will watch the men dig the ditch.
- We’ll watch the men dig the ditch.
Examples:
- The sun will not lift itself over the mountains at midnight.
- (The sun won’t lift itself over the mountains at midnight.)
- They will not listen to another chapter from Little Women.
- (They won’t listen to another chapter from Little Women.)
Shan’t is rarely used any more in the US or Canada. Technically, the contraction for “shall not, it has fallen out of use.
The future progressive begins with “will be” followed by the present participle (the “-ing” form) of the verb.
Contractions with “-ll” are best used in dialogue rather than in narrative.
Examples
- I’ll be leaving soon.
- you’ll be leaving next.
- he/she/it’ll be leaving last
- We’ll be staying tonight.
- You’ll be staying tomorrow.
- They’ll be staying this week.
For most verbs, the participle is simply the verb plus “-ing.”
Examples of regular present participles:
- present form >> present participle
- lift >> lifting
- stay >> staying
- listen >> listening
- present form >> present participle
- wash >> washing
- climb >> climbing
- dash >> dashing
The only irregularities are in the formation of the present participle.
Verbs ending in a final “-e” drop the “-e” to form the participle.
Verbs ending in a final “-ie” change the “-ie” to “-y” and add “-ing.”
One-syllable verbs ending in one consonant double that consonant (not “-w,” “-x,” or “-y”) before added the “-ing.”
- drop “-e,” add “-ing”
- bake >> baking
- write >> writing
- like >> liking
- double final consonant
- hop >> hopping
- plan >> planning
- swim >> swimming
- change “-ie” to “-y,” add “-ing”
- lie >> lying
- die >> dying
- tie >> tying
- but not doubled
- sew >> sewing
- say >> saying
- fix >> fixing
Examples of future progressive:
Examples:
- “I will be training my horse in the rain.”
- “I’ll be training my horse in the rain.”
- “She will be coming around the mountain when she comes.”
- “She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes.”
To make the sentence negative, insert “not” between “will” and “be,” or use the contraction “won’t” followed by “be” and the verb.
Examples:
- I will not be training my horse while the rain is falling.
- (I won’t be training my horse while the rain is falling.)
- The sun will not be rising over the mountains.
- (The sun won’t be rising over the mountains.)
- Elizabeth and Hannah will not be listening to another chapter today.
- (Elizabeth and Hannah won’t be listening to another chapter today.)
The future perfect begins with “will have” or “shall have” followed by the past participle.
The past participle is usually formed by adding “ed” to the verb.
Examples of future perfect:
- I will/shall have wanted
- You will/shall have washed
- He/she/it will/shall have waited
- We will/shall have baked
- You will/shall have liked
- They will/shall have bathed
Verbs that end in a final “e” simply add “d,” not doubling the “e.”
Verbs ending in a consonant + “-y” change the “-y” to an “i” and add “-ed” (the opposite of the present participle of other verbs).
Examples:
- final “-e” to “-ed”
- I will/shall have baked
- You will/shall have tied
- He/she/it will/shall have lived
- final “-y” to “-ied”
- We will/shall have studied
- You will/shall have relied
- They will/shall have married
Unfortunately, English has many irregular past participles, many of them commonly used.
Examples of irregular verbs (click the link above for more):
- present form >> past participle
- eat >> eaten
- come >> come
- do >> done
- present form >> past participle
- be (is, are) >> been
- have >> had
- see >> seen
Examples:
- You will have baked by pies before bedtime.
- The golden sun will have moved across the blue sky.
- Elizabeth and Hannah will have gained a better understanding of Little Women.
With the negative “not” between “will” and “have,” the future perfect shows an action is not expected to happen by a certain time.
Examples:
- You will not have baked the pies before bedtime.
- (You won’t have baked the pies before bedtime.)
- The moon will not have eclipsed the sun before we drive home.
- (The moon won’t have eclipsed the sun before we drive home.)
- Elizabeth and Hannah will not have finished the book by Monday.
- (Elizabeth and Hannah won’t have finished the book by Monday.)
It uses the helping verb “will,” the helping verb “have,” the past participle form of the verb “to be” (“been”), and the present participle (“-ing”) form of the primary verb.
The action would be either continuous or constantly repeated with the ending in the future.
Irregularities in the present participle:
- Verbs ending in “-e” drop the “-ed” to add the “-ing.”
- Verbs ending in “-y” change the “-y” to an “-i” and add the “-ed”
- Single-syllable words ending in a consonant other than “-w,” “-x,” or “-y” double the final consonant.
Examples:
- Regular present participles
- I will have been walking
- we will have been washing
- they will have been jumping
- Change “-y” to “-ied”
- he will have been crying
- you will have been buying
- it will have been playing
- Final “-e” to “-ing” (present participle)
- you will have been baking
- she will have been hoping
- they will have been coming
- Double the final consonant
- it will have been blurring
- they will have been begging
- we will have been stopping
Examples:
- You will have been baking pies for six months.
- The moon will have been eclipsing the sun for 20 minutes.
- We will have been spending all our money as tourists.
The negative “not” goes between “will” and “have.” (When using the contraction, be sure to include the apostrophe.)
Examples:
- I will have not been training my horse to jump fences.
- (I won’t have been training my horse to jump fences.)
- You will not have been baking the pies all day.
- (You won’t have been baking the pies all day.)
- Elizabeth and Hannah will not have been reading a chapter a day.
- (Elizabeth and Hannah won’t have been reading a chapter a day.)
Credit: Photo by Brian McGowan on Unsplash