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CHAPTER 7. THE FUTURE TENSES |
Just as there are four present tenses and four past tenses in English,
there are also four future tenses: the Simple Future, the Future
Continuous, the Future Perfect, and the Future Perfect Continuous.
1. The simple future
a. Use
The Simple Future tense is used to express non-continuous actions which
will take place in the future. In the following examples, the verbs in
the Simple Future tense are underlined.
e.g. They
will finish the work tomorrow.
He
will arrive next Saturday.
b. Formation
The Simple Future of any verb is formed from the auxiliary
will or
shall, followed by the bare infinitive of the verb.
In informal English, particularly in American English, the Simple Future
is usually conjugated entirely with the auxiliary
will. The auxiliary
will is a
modal auxiliary. Modal auxiliaries do not modify, but have
the same form, regardless of the subject.
The auxiliary
will is often contracted to
'll. Thus, in informal
English, the Simple Future of the verb
to work is usually conjugated
as follows:
| Without Contractions | With Contractions |
| I will work | I'll work |
| you will work | you'll work |
| he will work | he'll work |
| she will work | she'll work |
| it will work | it'll work |
| we will work | we'll work |
| they will work | they'll work |
Verbs used with the subjects
I and
we are generally referred to
as being in the
first person; verbs used with the subject
you are
generally referred to as being in the
second person; and verbs used
with the subjects
he,
she,
it and
they are generally referred
to as being in the
third person.
For formal English, there is a rule which states that in the Simple
Future, the auxiliary
shall should be used in the first person, and
the auxiliary
will should be used in the second person and third
person. Like the auxiliary
will, the auxiliary
shall is a modal
auxiliary.
Thus, in formal English, the Simple Future of the verb
to work may be
conjugated as follows:
| I shall work |
| you will work |
| he will work |
| she will work |
| it will work |
| we shall work |
| they will work |
Even in informal English, the auxiliary
shall is usually used in the
first person for questions in which a request for permission is implied.
e.g.
Shall I
call the office?
Shall we
go to the library?
However, the use of
will for the first person of the Simple Future is
beginning to be considered acceptable in formal English. Thus, except
for questions where a request for permission is implied, either
will
or
shall may be used for the first person of the Simple Future. In
this chapter, the alternative use of the auxiliary
shall in the first
person will be indicated by the word
shall in brackets.
The rules for the use of
will and
shall which apply to the Simple
Future tense, also apply to the other future tenses.
See
Exercise 1.
c. Questions and negative statements
As is the case with other English tenses, questions and negative
statements in the Simple Future are formed using the auxiliary.
Questions are formed by placing the auxiliary before the subject. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Question |
| It will work. | Will it work? |
| They will work. | Will they work? |
Negative statements are formed by placing the word
not after the auxiliary. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Negative Statement |
| It will work. | It will not work. |
| They will work. | They will not work. |
In spoken English, the following contraction is often used:
| Without Contraction | With Contraction |
| will not | won't |
The contracted form of
will not is unusual, since it is not only the
o of
not which is omitted. In addition, the
ll of
will is
omitted, and the
i of
will is changed to
o. The contracted form,
won't, is pronounced to rhyme with
don't.
In addition,
shall not is sometimes contracted to
shan't. However,
the word
shan't is rarely used in modern American English.
Negative questions are formed by placing the auxiliary before the subject,
and the word
not after the subject. However, when contractions are
used, the contracted form of
not immediately follows the auxiliary.
The following are examples of negative questions with and without
contractions:
| Without Contractions | With Contractions |
| Will it not work? | Won't it work? |
| Will they not work? | Won't they work? |
Tag questions are formed using the auxiliary. In the following examples,
the negative tag questions are underlined. Contractions are usually used
in negative tag questions.
| Affirmative Statement | Affirmative Statement with Tag Question |
| It will work. | It will work, won't it? |
| They will work. | They will work, won't they? |
See
Exercises 2 and
3.
2. The conjugation expressing determination and compulsion
In formal English, there is a rule which states that, in order to
express determination and compulsion, the auxiliary
will is to be
used in the first person, and the auxiliary
shall is to be used in the
second person and third person. This is the reverse of the use of
will
and
shall found in the Simple Future. The use of
will in the first
person is supposed to express determination, and the use of
shall in
the second person and third person is supposed to express compulsion.
For instance, for the verb
to work, the Simple conjugation which
expresses determination and compulsion is as follows:
| I will work |
| you shall work |
| he shall work |
| she shall work |
| it shall work |
| we will work |
| they shall work |
In this conjugation, the expressions
I will work, and
we will work,
have the meaning
I am determined to work, and
we are determined to
work. In contrast, the expressions
you shall work, and
they shall
work, for instance, have the meaning
you will be compelled to work,
and
they will be compelled to work.
See
Exercise 4.
The rule for expressing determination and compulsion which applies to
the Simple conjugation, also applies to the Continuous, Perfect, and
Perfect Continuous conjugations.
However, particularly in American English, the use of the conjugations
expressing determination and compulsion is beginning to be considered
old-fashioned.
3. The present continuous of To Go followed by an infinitive
The Present Continuous tense of
to go, followed by an infinitive, is
often used to refer to an event which is about to happen, or to refer to
an action which someone intends to carry out in the future.
The Present Continuous tense of the verb
to go is conjugated as follows:
| I am going |
| you are going |
| he is going |
| she is going |
| it is going |
| we are going |
| they are going |
The examples below illustrate the use of the Present Continuous tense of
to go, followed by an infinitive, to refer to a future event. In each
of these examples, the Present Continuous of
to go is printed in bold
type, and the infinitive which follows it is underlined.
e.g. It
is going to rain.
I
am going to write a letter tonight.
They
are going to study in France next year.
In the first example, the use of the Present Continuous of
to go
followed by the infinitive
to rain indicates that it is about to rain.
In the second and third examples, the use of the Present Continuous of
to go followed by the infinitives
to write and
to study indicates
that the actions of writing and studying are intended to be carried out
in the future.
See
Exercise 5.
It should also be noted that the Past Continuous tense of
to go can be
used to express actions which were about to happen in the past.
e.g. I
was going to write a letter last night.
In this example, the use of the Past Continuous of
to go followed
by the infinitive
to write indicates that the action of writing
was intended to be carried out in the past.
4. The future continuous
a. Use
The Future Continuous tense is used to express continuous, ongoing
actions which will take place in the future. In the following examples,
the verbs in the Future Continuous tense are underlined.
e.g. He
will be waiting for us.
They
will be arriving tomorrow.
b. Formation
The Future Continuous of any verb is formed from the Simple Future of
the auxiliary
to be, followed by the present participle of the verb.
For instance, the Future Continuous of the verb
to work is conjugated
as follows:
| I will (shall) be working |
| you will be working |
| he will be working |
| she will be working |
| it will be working |
| we will (shall) be working |
| they will be working |
See
Exercise 6.
It can be seen that the Future Continuous tense has two auxiliaries. The
first auxiliary is
will or
shall, and the second auxiliary is
be.
c. Questions and negative statements
As is the case with other English tenses, questions and negative
statements in the Future Continuous are formed using the first
auxiliary.
Questions are formed by placing the first auxiliary before the subject. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Question |
| It will be working. | Will it be working? |
| They will be working. | Will they be working? |
Negative statements are formed by placing the word
not after the
first auxiliary. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Negative Statement |
| It will be working. | It will not be working. |
| They will be working. | They will not be working. |
Negative questions are formed by placing the first auxiliary before the
subject, and the word
not after the subject. However, when contractions
are used, the contracted form of
not immediately follows the first
auxiliary. For example:
| Without Contractions | With Contractions |
| Will it not be working? | Won't it be working? |
| Will they not be working? | Won't they be working? |
Tag questions are formed using the first auxiliary. In the following
examples, the negative tag questions are underlined. Contractions are
usually used in negative tag questions.
| Affirmative Statement | Affirmative Statement with Tag Question |
| It will be working. | It will be working, won't it? |
| They will be working. | They will be working, won't they? |
See
Exercises 7 and
8.
5. The future perfect
a. Use
The Future Perfect tense is used to refer to a non-continuous action
which will be completed by a certain time in the future. In the
following examples, the verbs in the Future Perfect tense are
underlined.
e.g. She
will have finished the work by Wednesday.
I
will have cleaned the room before the guests arrive.
They
will have eaten breakfast by the time he gets up.
In these examples, the use of the Future Perfect indicates that the
actions of finishing the work, cleaning the room, and eating breakfast
will have been completed before the coming of Wednesday, the arrival
of the guests, and his getting up take place.
b. Formation
The Future Perfect of any verb is formed from the Simple Future of the
auxiliary
to have, followed by the past participle of the verb. For
instance, the Future Perfect of the verb
to work is conjugated as
follows:
| I will (shall) have worked |
| you will have worked |
| he will have worked |
| she will have worked |
| it will have worked |
| we will (shall) have worked |
| they will have worked |
See
Exercise 9.
c. Questions and negative statements
As is the case with other English tenses, questions and negative
statements in the Future Perfect are formed using the first
auxiliary.
Questions are formed by placing the first auxiliary before the subject. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Question |
| It will have worked. | Will it have worked? |
| They will have worked. | Will they have worked? |
Negative statements are formed by placing the word
not after the
first auxiliary. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Negative Statement |
| It will have worked. | It will not have worked. |
| They will have worked. | They will not have worked. |
Negative questions are formed by placing the first auxiliary before the
subject, and the word
not after the subject. However, when contractions
are used, the contracted form of
not immediately follows the first
auxiliary. For example:
| Without Contractions | With Contractions |
| Will it not have worked? | Won't it have worked? |
| Will they not have worked? | Won't they have worked? |
Tag questions are formed using the first auxiliary. In the following
examples, the negative tag questions are underlined. Contractions are
usually used in negative tag questions.
| Affirmative Statement | Affirmative Statement with Tag Question |
| It will have worked. | It will have worked, won't it? |
| They will have worked. | They will have worked, won't they? |
See
Exercises 10 and
11.
6. The future perfect continuous
a. Use
The Future Perfect Continuous tense is used to express a continuous,
ongoing action which will be completed by a certain time in the future.
In the following examples, the verbs in the Future Perfect Continuous
tense are underlined.
e.g. By next January, she
will have been living here for a year.
You
will have been traveling a great deal by the time you return home.
He
will have been working for ten months by the time he takes his
vacation.
In these examples, the use of the Future Perfect Continuous indicates
that the continuous, ongoing actions of living, traveling, and working,
will have been completed before the events of the coming of January,
your returning home, and his taking a vacation, take place.
b. Formation
The Future Perfect Continuous of any verb is formed from the Future
Perfect of the auxiliary
to be, followed by the present participle
of the verb. For instance, the Future Perfect Continuous of the verb
to work is conjugated as follows:
| I will (shall) have been working |
| you will have been working |
| he will have been working |
| she will have been working |
| it will have been working |
| we will (shall) have been working |
| they will have been working |
See
Exercise 12.
c. Questions and negative statements
As is the case with other English tenses, questions and negative
statements in the Future Perfect Continuous are formed using the
first auxiliary.
Questions are formed by placing the first auxiliary before the subject. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Question |
| It will have been working. | Will it have been working? |
| They will have been working. | Will they have been working? |
Negative statements are formed by placing the word
not after the
first auxiliary. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Negative Statement |
| It will have been working. | It will not have been working. |
| They will have been working. | They will not have been working. |
Negative questions are formed by placing the first auxiliary before the
subject, and the word
not after the subject. However, when contractions
are used, the contracted form of
not immediately follows the first
auxiliary. For example:
| Without Contractions | With Contractions |
| Will it not have been working? | Won't it have been working? |
| Will they not have been working? | Won't they have been working? |
Tag questions are formed using the first auxiliary. In the following
examples, the negative tag questions are underlined. Contractions are
usually used in negative tag questions. For example:
| Affirmative Statement | Affirmative Statement with Tag Question |
| It will have been working. | It will have been working, won't it? |
| They will have been working. | They will have been working, won't they? |
See
Exercises 13 and
14.
7. Summary of the formation of the English future tenses
The following table summarizes the formation of the English future
tenses.
| Tense | Auxiliary | Verb Form |
| Simple Future | will (shall) | bare infinitive |
| Future Continuous | will (shall) be | present participle |
| Future Perfect | will (shall) have | past participle |
| Future Perfect Continuous | will (shall) have been | present participle |
8. Clauses
If a sentence has only one subject and one verb, it is said to consist
of a single clause, called the
main or
principal clause. A
main
clause is a clause which can stand alone to form a complete sentence.
Each of the following sentences has only one clause. In the following
examples, the verbs are underlined.
e.g. It
is cold.
The flowers
are blooming.
If a sentence contains more than one verb, and each verb has its own
subject, the sentence is said to consist of more than one clause. The
following sentences each have two clauses. The verbs are underlined.
e.g. He
said that he
was ready.
The door
opened, and my uncle
entered the room.
In the first example,
he said is the first clause, and
that he was
ready is the second clause. In the second example,
the door opened
is the first clause, and
my uncle entered the room is the second
clause.
a. Coordinate clauses
When two clauses are joined by a word such as
and,
or or
but, the
two clauses are called
coordinate clauses, and the word which joins them
is called a
coordinate conjunction. In the following examples, the verbs are underlined.
e.g. It
is cold, but the flowers
are blooming.
The flowers
are blooming and the birds
are singing.
In the first example, the coordinate conjunction
but joins the clause
it is cold to the clause
the flowers are blooming. In the second
example, the coordinate conjunction
and joins the clause
the flowers
are blooming to the clause
the birds are singing. The clauses in
these examples are coordinate clauses.
b. Subordinate clauses
Coordinate clauses are main clauses. A main clause is grammatically
independent, in that it may stand alone to form a complete sentence. In
contrast, a clause which describes some part of the main clause, or which
is in some other way grammatically dependent on the main clause, is
called a
subordinate clause. A subordinate clause cannot stand alone
to form a complete sentence.
In the following examples, the subordinate clauses are underlined.
e.g. The book
which I lent you is a library book.
He told me
what he had seen.
If you are ready, we will go.
In the preceding examples, the main clauses are
the book is a library
book,
he told me and
we will go; and the subordinate clauses are
which I lent you,
what he had seen and
if you are ready. A
subordinate clause usually begins with a connecting word or phrase which
joins it to the main clause. In the preceding examples, these connecting
words are
which,
what and
if.
c. The past perfect and the simple past
It has already been seen that the tense of a verb in one clause is
related to the tenses of verbs in other clauses in the same sentence.
For instance, if one action happened before another in the past, the
action that happened first would usually be expressed by a verb in the
Past Perfect tense, and the action that happened subsequently would
usually be expressed by a verb in the Simple Past tense.
For instance, each of the following sentences has one verb in the Past
Perfect tense, and one verb in the Simple Past tense. In the following
examples, the verbs are underlined.
e.g. She
was late, because she
had lost her way.
It
had started to snow before we
reached the inn.
In the first example, the verb
had lost is in the Past Perfect, and
the verb
was is in the Simple Past. This indicates that the action of
losing the way occurred before the action of being late. In the second
example, the verb
had started is in the Past Perfect, and the verb
reached is in the Simple Past. This indicates that the action of
starting to snow occurred before the action of reaching the inn.
d. The use of the present in subordinate clauses to express future actions
It should be noted that if the verb in the main clause of a sentence is
in a future tense, the verb of any subordinate clause which refers to
the future is usually in a present tense. This is illustrated in the
following examples. The verbs are underlined.
e.g. We
will welcome him when he
arrives.
I
will have finished the work before it
is time to leave.
In these examples, the main clauses are
we will welcome him and
I will have finished the work; and the subordinate clauses are
when he arrives and
before it is time to leave. In the main
clauses, the
will welcome is in the Simple Future tense, and the
will have finished is in the Future Perfect tense. However, in the subordinate clauses, the verbs
arrives and
is are both in the Simple Present, even though they
refer to future events.
In most cases, the rule is that if the verb in the main clause of a
sentence is in a future tense, the verb of any subordinate clause which
refers to the future must be in a present tense. There is usually no
ambiguity in such sentences, because the fact that the verb in the main
clause is in a future tense is generally enough to indicate that all of
the actions expressed in the sentence are to take place in the future.
See
Exercise 15.
However, there are a few cases in which the verb in a subordinate
clause must be put into a future tense in order to avoid ambiguity.
For instance, in subordinate clauses beginning with
although or
because, it is sometimes necessary to use future tenses, to make it
clear that the actions expressed relate to the future, rather than the
present.
e.g. We will not
need to send for her, because she
will already
be here.
Although he
will be in the neighborhood, we
will have to search for
him.
In these examples, the use of the Simple Future tense in the subordinate
clauses
because she will already be here and
although he will be in
the neighborhood is necessary to make it clear that the events of her
being here, and his being in the neighborhood, relate to the future
rather than the present.
