We will try to give you some grammar practice questions that don’t make you shudder! If you find learning about the future progressive tense difficult, you are not alone; we will make our explanation as understandable and interesting as possible! When we taught this tense, our Czech students asked, “Do people really talk that way?”
Click below to watch this video and find out what happened to Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg after they crashed into Kvitoya Island in the Arctic Ocean.
There are two ways of expressing the future progressive tense.
1) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg will be building a shelter.
2) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg are going to be building a shelter. (This is used to make a prediction.)
Relax! For everyday speech you can use either one!
Choose the sentence that uses either form of the
future progressive tense.
1. a) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg build a shelter.
b) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg will be building a shelter.
c) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg built a shelter.
2. a) The explorer’s families will not be hearing news of them for thirty-three years.
b) The explorer’s families didn’t hear news of them for thirty-three years.
c) The explorer’s families haven’t heard news of them for thirty-three years.
3. a) It’s thirty-three years later; the world is going to hear about the explorers.
b) It’s thirty-three years later; the world hears about the explorers.
c) It’s thirty-three years later; the world has just heard about the explorers.
4. a) Thirty-three years later some sailors go onto the island.
b) Thirty-three years later some sailors will be going onto the island.
c) Thirty-three years later some sailors went onto the island.
5. a) The sailors are going to find Anna’s locket with Nil’s things.
b) The sailors found Anna’s locket with Nil’s things.
c) The sailors find Anna’s locket with Nil’s things.
Put the verbs in brackets into the future progressive tense.
Then check your answers.
The three explorers (to build) ______________________ / _________________
a shelter onKvitoyaIsland. They are hopeful that they (to survive) _________________
the winter. However, no one hears of them for thirty-three years. After all that time, a
Norwegian ship (to land) ______________________ on the island.
As the crew of the Norwegian ship look around the island (to identify)
_______________ / _________________ the two skeletons by the names on their
clothing. As soon as the bodies are returned to Sweden, the people (to celebrate)
___________________ / ______________________ the three men as heroes.
Many of Nils Strindberg’s photographs survived the Arctic cold. People around the world
(to view) __________________/ __________________ them for decades to come.
Note: These two forms are usually interchangeable. Their use will become automatic as you gain more practice.
This article reviews the future progressive tense and provides practice questions for students. A video of Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg’s adventures is provided to add interest to an otherwise dull subject.
