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Since 11/2023 47 episodes

How to use Future Tenses in English - Part 2

2025-08-10 21 min

Description & Show Notes

Ready to master the trickiest future tenses in English?

In this episode, we dive into the future continuous and future perfect—when to use them, how to avoid common mistakes, and why they’re your secret weapon for sounding truly fluent. Whether you're upgrading from B2 to C1 or just love precision, this one’s for you.
  • 0:00 – 0:21 – Introduction to the podcast
  • 0:24 – 1:19 – Topic introduction: future tenses (Part two)
  • 1:20 – 3:31 – Recap of future tenses (Part one)
  • 3:32 – 5:12 – Introduction to advanced future tenses: future continuous
  • 5:12 – 7:02 – Clarifying the use of future continuous
  • 7:02 – 8:27 – Tips for usage and common mistakes with future continuous
  • 8:27 – 11:01 – Future continuous in warnings and announcements
  • 11:02 – 12:36 – Transition to future perfect
  • 12:36 – 13:39 – Practical use of the future perfect
  • 13:40 – 14:07 – Common pitfalls: “by” vs “until”
  • 14:08 – 14:47 – When and why to use advanced tenses
  • 14:48 – 15:10 – Why so many future tenses? Understanding the intention
  • 15:11 – 16:01 – A fun linguistic debate: Why call it “perfect”?
  • 16:02 – 17:13 – Practice resources and Birgit’s grammar book*
  • 17:14 – 18:45 – Golden Nugget: “Was going to” for interrupted plans
  • 18:46 – 19:21 – Preview of the next episode
  • 19:21 – 20:55 – Workshop announcement: Upgrade your English in Cologne
Would you like to work with us?
Rebecca: https://rebeccadeacon.com
*Pick up Birgit's books:
Englische Grammatik richtig anwenden - Teil 1: Englische Zeiten in der Praxis: Sprachkurs für Wiedereinsteiger & Fortgeschrittene mit insg. über 1000 ... Anwenden - Lernen mit dem Profi!, Band 2) : Verlag, KLHE, Kasimirski, Birgit: Amazon.de: Bücher

Englische Grammatik richtig anwenden - Teil 2: Englische Grammatik in der Praxis: Sprachkurs für Wiedereinsteiger & Fortgeschrittene mit insg. über ... Anwenden - Lernen mit dem Profi!, Band 1) : Verlag, KLHE, Kasimirski, Birgit: Amazon.de: Bücher

Sind Sie bereit, die schwierigsten Zukunftsformen im Englischen zu meistern?
In dieser Folge beschäftigen wir uns mit dem Future Continuous und dem Future Perfect – wann man sie verwendet, wie man häufige Fehler vermeidet und warum sie Ihre Geheimwaffe sind, um wirklich flüssig zu klingen. Egal, ob Sie von B2 auf C1 aufsteigen oder einfach nur Präzision lieben, diese Folge ist genau das Richtige für Sie.

  • 0:00 – 0:21 – Einführung in den Podcast
  • 0:24 – 1:19 – Einführung in das Thema: Zukunftsformen (Teil zwei)
  • 1:20 – 3:31 – Zusammenfassung der Zukunftsformen (Teil eins)
  • 3:32 – 5:12 – Einführung in fortgeschrittene Zukunftsformen: Future Continuous
  • 5:12 – 7:02 – Klärung der Verwendung von Future Continuous
  • 7:02 – 8:27 – Tipps zur Verwendung und häufige Fehler bei Future Continuous
  • 8:27 – 11:01 – Future Continuous in Warnungen und Ankündigungen
  • 11:02 – 12:36 – Übergang zum Futur II
  • 12:36 – 13:39 – Praktische Verwendung des Futur II
  • 13:40 – 14:07 – Häufige Fallstricke: „by” vs. „until”
  • 14:08 – 14:47 – Wann und warum man fortgeschrittene Zeitformen verwendet
  • 14:48 – 15:10 – Warum gibt es so viele Zukunftsformen? Die Absicht verstehen
  • 15:11 – 16:01 – Eine unterhaltsame linguistische Debatte: Warum „Perfekt“?
  • 16:02 – 17:13 – Übungsmaterialien und Birgits Grammatikbuch
  • 17:14 – 18:45 – Golden Nugget: „Was going to” für unterbrochene Pläne
  • 18:46 – 19:21 – Vorschau auf die nächste Folge
  • 19:21 – 20:55 – Ankündigung eines Workshops: Verbessern Sie Ihr Englisch in Köln

Transcript

(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi and welcome to the 3 English Experts. I'm Birgit. I'm Dave. And I'm Rebecca. And welcome to this episode. 3 English Experts is your English podcast to help you speak better English and create a positive and happy mindset for your English learning journey. Hello everybody. Today we're going to talk about a grammar issue, future tenses, part two. So there is one first episode we already sent out last year. And interestingly enough, and that's a bit bizarre or odd, that came out exactly one year ago on the 16th of June 2024. So take a look. So this is the date of recording. Obviously the episode, this part two will be coming out a little later. And I've already now used a new future tense we are going to talk about. But I will pass on to Dave now. He's going to do a little recap on what you can listen to in the first episode of future tenses. Obviously, there's a big choice, a lot of choices. So we take it in steps. And this is part two. Dave. Hello, everybody. Thank you, Birgit. Yes, first and foremost, you have to go and listen to the episode, we think. It's very entertaining. But here's a quick recap so that it will all fit together at the future tenses generally. So in the first one, we talked about, we say the basic future tenses. So we have the simple future, so with the will form, and then the normal verb that is used then for things like predictions in the future, general sort of facts in the future. Okay, so we use that one in the first one. Also with the be going to form, this is the form that we use when we want to talk about our plans, for example, plans for the future, for example, maybe where you're going on holiday, and it's still not fixed yet, but you're in the planning phase, we are going to go to Spain in January or something like this. This is more of the plans format. Then we have the present continuous for appointments or arrangements. So something that you may have in your schedule. So on Friday, I'm having a meeting with my tax advisor, I'm going to the dentist or something like this. These are all appointments and arrangements. So these are the ones that we use with the present continuous, so be plus the ing form. Okay, and there was the one other one that often is, is it really the future because we also use the present tense. But here in this case, it's with this present simple. And we use this often to talk about, for example, programs or timetables. So even when you think maybe, for example, what time will your train leave tomorrow? We normally say, what time does your train leave tomorrow, because it works from a timetable. Although it is the future, we actually still use the present simple for that. So they were a bit of a summary of what you will find if you listen to the first one. And I'm now going to hand over to Rebecca, who will introduce you to these more tricky ones. Yes, Rebecca, hopefully, I won't confuse everybody now. But as big as said, there are more, unfortunately, there are more choices. This is what makes future tense so tricky, because there's just so many options. Yeah, so there are two others that we want to introduce today, which are quite a little bit advanced. So if you're looking against upgrade B2 to C1, I would say this is C1, really B2 plus C1. Just to give you an example. So by the time this episode comes out, which will be end of July, I think, I will be living in Ireland, and I will have moved from Germany to Ireland. So I'm talking about what will have happened. It hasn't happened yet. But in the future, at that point, exactly at that point, I will be doing something. Starting with this, I will be living, I will be living in July, I will be living in Ireland. So I'm not there yet. But I'm talking about a specific time in the future. What will I be doing? So for example, I could ask Dave, and we call this the future continuous. And we form it with will plus B plus the ing form, the gerund, our favourite. And for example, if I ask Dave, what will you be doing at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning? Okay, so tomorrow morning, I will be doing a training session for some of my clients. Exactly. So it means he will be in the process of doing something exactly at 10 o'clock. So you could say, don't call me at 10, because I will be working, I will be sitting, talking to my clients. Bigot? Yes, and I tried to explain that with the continuous, we could translate that. Of course, nobody says it. Ich werde am trainieren sein, morgen früh. So just to get that into your head, what that translates to. I don't think a lot of people would say that, actually, but that's what it means. So was wirst du gerade im Verlauf machen sein? Yeah, but that helps people to picture because that's the Verlaufs form. There's a lot of confusion with that. And even with advanced learners, I found out, so I had two learners or three who knew a lot of English and were very fluent. But I could add, talking about future tenses, because they weren't aware of when and why and how this is used. Absolutely. I think, like you say, just translating it sometimes, it does help, even though maybe you wouldn't really use that very often in German. I think it just helps for the understanding of what on earth does this mean? So, for example, Bigot, what will you be doing this time next week? So this time, Monday, next week, what will you be doing at ten to four next week? Yeah, next week, Monday afternoon, I will be coaching. I will be teaching. I will be sitting in the same place, talking to somebody, having a training. I will be having a training. Yes. Exactly. So it's a specific time in the future. And then people say, what's the difference? Because like next Monday, I am flying. So we taught you this arrangement future. So what's the difference? Yes, Monday, I am flying generally. But at 4.45, I will be sitting on the plane exactly at that moment, because my flight starts maybe at four and it finishes at six. So at 4.45, I will be sitting on the plane. So we're really talking about activity verbs again. So this is if allowed. So you will be watching the news. That's a typical sentence, I think, from the books. Don't call granddad. You will be watching the news at the moment. Exactly. Yeah, that's a good example. So this time, I have to say that this time next week, this time tomorrow, this time next year, you can use it with this time because you're talking about this time, exactly this time. That's a good example. Yeah. Yeah. And the thing is, for us as German native thinkers and speakers, what we say really in this is on this side. So it doesn't change that. It doesn't translate. I think that's a trouble. So people are not aware of really nice and precise tools English has. And I think that's the nice learning for advanced learners. You can be very precise using the correct grammar and what you'll be doing. Absolutely agree. The other thing I find funny, though, is when I teach people this because the Germans do tend to love that. And then they use it all the time. So then I say, oh, what are you doing? I will be doing this and I will be doing that. And I've learned something. Yeah, exactly. And it's nice because they're using it, but then they overuse it. And it is quite specific. So you have to be careful. Don't just use it all the time, because it's something very exact and very specific. So you can't use it all the time. And I tend to say, of course, that's you can be very specific, as you said, or for meetings. Yeah, we will be talking about this next week. Yeah. But I also mentioned it. You don't say it very often and not that often. The other time and you can hear this, I think, which is that this is quite helpful. This future continues can also be used as a warning, as a kind of take care, pass off, something's happening. So, for example, often when you're on a flight, you're sitting on the flight, drinking your coffee, and then they say, we will be landing shortly in Frankfurt. Please put up your table, put your drink away. They often use that they do. If the Deutsche Bahn people are maybe reading their script or their English is good, they also use it. They say we will be arriving in Cologne. Please make sure to take all your belongings with you. So it's this basic warning like, no, this is something you need to take note of. And I think that's the one that people don't always realize, which is quite useful, because then they say, why do they say that? And it's this sort of pass off, we will be landing shortly or we will be arriving shortly. So pack all your stuff together. So if you listen carefully, often on the flights, they do say that. It could also be, for example, the CEO will be visiting us next week in the office. So make sure everybody's in the office, everybody's dressed properly, just to tell everybody, heads up, the CEO will be visiting us next week. So please make sure everybody's in the office on Monday, for example. And again, it's this warning or information has changed. Maybe someone's meeting you at the airport. So you say, I will be landing at Terminal 2, not Terminal 1. Just to let you know, I'll be landing at 2, not at 1. So it's this kind of, again, this sort of warning. Definitely something that doesn't come easily to a beginner. So you have to pick that up when you're in the country or you're with natives or, yeah, look at it. Yeah, if you just, if you want to get into really analysing and people start saying, why is it this and that situation? That's just an explanation. One problem I have, though, is when people like using this, then they start using it about themselves all the time. And I will be landing and I will be doing this and I will be doing that. And then it sounds like you're the big news or like you're the check it out for Vanung. I will be coming to your office. It's a little bit too much. You're not the queen or the king or whatever. So, yeah, don't overuse it. Very specific situations. And it's like you say, the easy version is to learn it with this time next week, learn it with another phrase, and then you can use it in that way. Any other comments, Dave, on I will be doing? I don't want to confuse our listeners, but it's similar to the past continuous in the sense that it's at a specific time. So it's always at a specific time with these continuous forms, whether it's a present, the past, or even now the future. So it's a specific time. So it works for every single one of them. Yeah. Okay. And the other next one we were going to introduce is the future perfect. Present and perfect. Oh, I like that. I know, Bigot gets excited when you start saying things like perfect because it just gets confusing. She loves that. She loves getting into the details. So, Bigot, would you like to explain future perfect for our listeners? Yeah, by the time, I think we said that by the time is a good expression. By the time this episode comes out, Rebecca will have moved to Ireland. Very sad. She's sleeping. Doesn't matter for our podcast. Yes. I'll still be here, but yeah. Yeah. This needs a little practice, but before you understand present perfect, how to build that, that would be difficult to teach and difficult to understand. So this is coming after as a next step in my schedule of teaching. But Rebecca, maybe we can train that a little bit by using or questioning you, interviewing you. By the time this episode comes out, or by the time it is summer or the end of summer, what will have happened in the new house? What will have changed? What will have changed? Good question. Hopefully, we will have got a temporary new kitchen and we will have organized our internet connection. We will have taken the horrible 60s wallpaper off the walls in the living room. So we will have removed by the end of the summer, hopefully. So yeah, by the end of the summer, we will have done some basic renovations. So something that's not now changed, but it needs to have changed. And it will have been done. Yeah. I will have sent the documents for an office or business contacts. I will have sent the document, the email by the end of the week. Yeah. I haven't done it yet, but I will have done it by Friday, for example. I often say there's something like when you say, oh, can I have my book? You lend someone a book and they say, I haven't finished it yet, but I will have finished it by Friday. So I can bring you the book on Friday because I will have done it by then, for example. Dave, do you have some more examples? Well, it's just the by more than anything else to use the word by because it's a deadline. The common mistake here is using the word until, but because it's a deadline or a time, then you need to use the word by. And often it's used in this case with Future Perfect, isn't it? We will have painted the house by summer. We will have installed the new kitchen by the end of July. We will have lost our minds by the end of the year. We'll have started missing Germany. I will have started missing Germany. I don't know. I will have started losing my German. Yes. Okay. They're a bit tricky, but being said, I think these are definitely later on. You don't want to do this at B1 or something. Focus on getting the other four. I would always say are much more important. The ones Dave introduced, much more essential. And you can get by with those really well. If you can do those really well, I'm always super happy if anybody can do that. Often they can't. And this is really this upgrading, adding on, right? Yeah. Maybe one last thing to Future Tenses in general. Why are there so many? What's the idea? What's so different? It's all about the intention. So we really have to think about how sure or when does it happen? Completely different what we need to think of when we talk. We had that in the first episode. You can use present tense in German all the time. I've got a bit of a silly question. I don't know if you've got any silly answers. Ask a silly question. Get a silly answer. But I often wonder why they call the tenses the way they call them. And so here we've got a perfect example, future perfect. Now, what is perfect about this future tense? It's completely crazy. It is a silly question. But often when I'm teaching, for example, the present perfect, I don't want to confuse anyone out there. But when we talk about the present perfect, I always talk about the past present, because that kind of makes more sense. It's the past and the present put together. I know it's confusing. What's perfect about it? Where does the word perfect come from? I love the way David's always trying to push his past present tense. He's trying to establish a new name. Yeah, call it something easy. He's hoping Big is going to write another book on it. I'm not so happy about this future continuous, because future continuous for me translates to I'm flying on Sunday. Which is actually present continuous, but with a future form. So what you call it then, and I always say like it will be doing, that's introducing or that's complicated in the head of people, because if they think about continuous, for me, they think about the normal, the present continuous. There's quite a bit. Very confusing, these names. Very confusing. So Big, are there any exercises in any of your books on future continuous, future perfect? Yes, yes. Which book is it? Do you know? The chapter is the Englische Grammatik richtig anwenden. But first, there's a chapter on future tenses and there's many exercises. So there's like a chapter where you have to choose. You get a sentence and then you should fill in the correct form of the future. So a little bit challenging, but real life sentences from business context I could think of. Yeah, perfect. Perfect. So that's perfect. If you need some practice, head over, have a look at Big's book. And yeah, it is tricky. The Golden Nugget. OK, our golden nugget for today, our extra information bit we talked about in the first episode on future tenses going to. So you're going to do something. It's a plan in the future. I'm going to buy a new car sometime this year. It's not in my schedule. I don't know when. It's just a plan in my head now. And this, again, may be confusing for learners. You could use that for expressing that you had a plan last week, but something came, got in the way. I was going to. I was going to meet my friend, but she got ill or I couldn't go. I had to work. That doesn't come naturally to learner. I just discovered that again with somebody on a fair English level. If you are not used to using, I was going to, that could be a good learning. I was going to watch that film. So that was my intention. But it wasn't on anymore in the cinema. I was going to send Rebecca a farewell present. But why? Why is the boat? I also can send that to Ireland. Just an idea, example. So now she's expecting a present. Let's think about that. So here's some information about our next episode, which is all about upgrading your vocabulary. So that's what we're going to talk about. Maybe how you can make your English more formal, potentially, or more informal, or more sophisticated, or more slangy, whichever way you want to go. Tips and tricks, maybe also where to find out this information. Maybe some way you can get some quizzes to do these kinds of things. So that's what we're going to be talking about in our next session. See you then. Bye. Bye. So are you ready to upgrade your English? Do you still feel maybe not confident, uncomfortable when you speak English? Or maybe you're stuck at a certain level and you're trying to upgrade, take it to the next level? Why not join us, the three English experts at a workshop, a two day live workshop in Cologne in September. We are aiming to give you all the skills you're going to need to give yourself a kickstart, push moving forward, positive step in the right direction. We are going to work on communication skills with Dave. You're going to work on your grammar and structure with Birgit. And finally, your positive mindset and motivation with me, Rebecca. So if you're interested, head over to our website, 3EnglishExpertsWorkshop.com. And if you book before the 30th of June, we have a really nice early bird offer with a special price and lots of extras. This is not just two days. After the two days, we are also offering some follow up sessions, six one hour free conversation lessons, a follow up with one of the experts. And we will also give you a roadmap so that once you step out of those two days, you know exactly where you need to go, what you need to do next. It's going to be fun. It's going to be interactive. And we would love to see you there. So head over to that website, 3EnglishExpertsWorkshop.com and book your place now.

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