Future Perfect Progressive Practice—Answer Key
Part 1: Match the clause or phrase on the left with a clause on the right to make a complete
sentence. Though more than one option may be grammatically possible, choose the MOST
LOGICAL and fitting ending for each beginning. Write the number of the part on the left next to its
match. The first one is done for you.
Beginning of Sentence End of Sentence
1. By the time the store closes,… …I will have been eating all day at the fair. 6
…because they will have just finished the test. 5
2. By the time Joe finishes his homework,…
..she will have been working all day, and I’m 9
3. When we finally arrive in San Francisco,… sure she’ll be tired.
…we will have been shopping for three hours. 1
4. The children will have been playing all day
in the hot sun by then,…
…by the end of Friday? 7
5. The students won’t have been talking much
at that point…
…we will have been talking on the phone for 10
6. I don’t think I will want to go out to dinner exactly two hours.
because…
...she will have been traveling for three weeks! 8
7. Won’t Brad have been conducting interviews
for an entire week…
...he will have been sitting at his desk for three 2
8. By the time Marla finishes her cross-country hours.
trip next Tuesday,…
…so they will probably be ready for a nap. 4
9. Don’t expect Emily to go to your party on
Saturday because…
…we will have been driving for the entire day. 3
10. If I hang up in twenty seconds,…
Part 2: Use the verb in parenthesis to complete the sentence. Use it in the future perfect
progressive tense.
1. (sightsee) By the time the sun sets, we __________________________________________________ all day long.
will have been sightseeing
2. (%ly)
(fly) By
Bythe
thetime the passengers
passengers arrive inarrive in Europe,
Europe, they ______________________________________ for almost
they __________________________________________________ for almost
twenty hours.
hours.
will have been flying
3. (listen) The trial isn’t over yet! By the end of today, the jury
__________________________________________________ to testimony for almost a month!
will have been listening
4. (lie) I hope I don’t get sunburned. By the time Miguel returns with those cold drinks, I
__________________________________________________ on this beach for a couple of hours.
will have been lying
Part 3: Are the following sentences grammatically correct? If any part of the sentence is incorrect,
write “incorrect” and fix it. If the entire sentence is grammatically correct, write “correct.”
1. By the time we will arrive in New York, we will have been driving for three days.
Incorrect. Use the simple present or the present perfect in the future time clause. The correct clause
should be “By the time we arrive…” or “By the time we have arrived…”
2. When my brother’s plane finally gets here, I will have been waiting for him at the airport for an hour.
Correct.
3. Tamy will have been teaching at the university for eight years by the time she will receive her
promotion. Incorrect. Use the simple present or the present perfect in the future time clause. The correct
clause should be “”by the time she receives,” or “by the time she has received”.
4. When this course ends, how long you will have been living in the U.S.? Incorrect. The word order is
wrong for the question. The correct question should be: “How long will you have been living…?”
5. We will be hungry after the gym because we will have been exercising for over two hours. Correct.
6. Until Angela will have been living in these apartments for a year, she can’t break her lease. Incorrect.
No future form can appear in a time clause. In this case, the correct clause would be: “Until Angela has
been living…”, “Until Angela has lived…” OR “Until Angela lives…”
7. Madison will have been having her license for two years by her birthday. Incorrect. Remember, we
cannot use verbs that express a state in progressive tenses. Although “have” may sometimes express an
action, in this example it does not. Thus, the correct clause should be “Madison will have had…”.
8. How long will Leslie have been working at the company by the time she resigns? Correct.
9. Sam won’t want to do anything that requires thinking when we see him because he will has been
studying all day in the library. Incorrect. Remember, the base form of a verb must follow any modal verb,
including “will”. Even though the subject is “he”, we do not change “will have” to “will has”. The correct
clause should be “he will have been studying…”.
10. By the time you reach your goal of mastering English, you will have been working tirelessly for many
years. Correct.
