The future tense is used daily to communicate the plans and actions that might occur at the said time. The future tense is constructed only in three forms simple future, future continuous, and future perfect tense.
The future perfect continuous tense is similar to the future perfect tense but describes longer actions. The phrasal verb “Will be” forms the future continuous tense, and “Will have” forms the future perfect tense.
Key Takeaways
- “Will be” describes a future state or condition, while “will have” describes completed actions or events in the future.
- “Will be” is followed by a noun or an adjective, while “will have” is followed by a past participle.
- “Will be” is used for predictions or statements of certainty, while “will have” is used for actions that will be completed at a specific point in the future.
Will Be vs Will Have
The difference between “Will be” and “Will have” is that “Will be” is used in constructing future continuous tense that describes the actions that will occur at the said time in the future. “Will have” is used in future perfect tense to describe the actions that will be accomplished before the stated time.
“Will be” expresses future actions and enquiries, refers to events that occur naturally, and predicts the future. The future continuous tense is used in positive, negative, and interrogative sentences.
“Will be” is preferred in questioning over will have.
Future Continuous Tense (Will/Shall be)
Subject + will/shall + be + first form (main verb) -affirmative sentence
Subject + will/shall + not + be + first form (main verb) – negative sentence
Will/shall+ subject + be+ main verb + object? – Interrogative sentence
Will/shall + subject + not+ be+ main verb + object? – Negative Interrogative sentence
“Will have” expresses the actions accomplished before the specified time. The future perfect tense is more complicated to construct than the future continuous tense. It is also used to construct positive, negative, and interrogative sentences.
Future Perfect Tense (Will/Shall have)
Subject + will/shall + have + main verb (third form) + object -affirmative sentence
Subject + will/shall + have + main verb (third form) – negative sentence
Will/shall+ subject + have+ main verb (third form) + object? – Interrogative sentence
Will/shall + subject + not+ have+ main verb (third form) + object? – Negative Interrogative sentence
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Will Be | Will Have |
|---|---|---|
| Tense | “Will be” is used in constructing the future progressive tense. | “Will have” is used in constructing the future perfect tense. |
| Meaning | “Will be” is used to express the future actions that will occur at a specific time. | “Will have” expresses that future action will happen before the stated time. |
| Main Verb | The main verb of “will be” is the present participle or first form of the verb. | The auxiliary verb “Will have” proceed with the past participle. |
| Short Form | ‘ll is a contracted form of “Will be”, and ‘won’t be is a short form of will not be. | ‘ll have a contracted form of “Will have” and Won’t have for will not have. |
| Example | I will be on holiday by this time next week. | I will have written articles by this time tomorrow. |
What Will Be?
The future continuous tense is constructed with auxiliary verbs “will be” to express future actions that will occur at a particular time if everything goes as planned.
The phrasal verb “Will be” is followed by present or past participles as the main verb. The subject of the future continuous tense can be any personal pronoun.
When two actions are combined in the future tense, the first sentence will be continuous, and the second tense will be present simple. Will is also replaced with shall in future tenses.
Affirmative sentence
Example: I am learning to swim. I will be swimming like an expert.
I will be eating dinner when you arrive.
Negative Sentence
Example: She won’t be at home.
Interrogative sentence
Example: Will you be living tomorrow in Mumbai?
What will you be doing tomorrow?
Negative interrogative sentence
Example: Will you not be working tomorrow?
What is Will Have?
The phrasal verb “will have” describes the actions that will be accomplished before the time. The Phrasal verb “will have” will come before the main verb in the future perfect tense.
The sentence’s subject can be any personal pronoun like he, she, it, or they. The future continuous action is combined with the present simple and future tense based on the context.
The future perfect tense is hard to construct, but practice will make it easier. It is combined with a simple future followed by will have and past participle.
“By” and “until” are used in future perfect tense to describe the time.
Affirmative sentence
Example: I will have submitted articles by Friday.
Negative Sentence
Example: I won’t have gone to the office.
Interrogative sentence
Example: Will she have submitted the articles?
Where will she have gone?
Negative interrogative sentence
Example: Will she have not submitted the articles?
Main Differences Between Will Be and Will Have
- “Will be” forms a future continuous tense that expresses the completed future actions at the said time, whereas “Will have” is used in future perfect tense to describe the actions that will be accomplished before the said time.
- The main verb of “will be” is either a present or past participle, whereas the main verb of “Will has” is the past participle.
- The actions described using future continuous tense may or may not happen in the future, whereas the “Will have” sentences guarantee to happen.
- “Will be” is more formal and polite when enquiring about someone than “will have.”
- “Will be” is easy to construct and use, whereas “will have” is complicated.
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=WSfxDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT27&dq=future+continuous+and+future+perfect+tense&ots=6g1Tpx94x_&sig=HGR5SVGhErdq8g1P9s_n3aFs5go
- https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01234612/
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