 Re: 4 questions
Yes, I agree that it is very complicated and I am glad to have learned the rules on a first language basis.
Look at my last sentence in my previous post. The perfect tenses are designed to reflect an element of TIME. So when you changed from future perfect to present continuous (which I understand, as we use present continuous for future intentions), you were incorrect because you are talking a PERIOD OF TIME: a continual activity that began in the past (hence the use of the past participle "been"), that will continues now (hence the use of the auxiliary very "have" in the present tense), and that will end in the future (hence the use of "will).
In other words there are three time elements at play when using the future perfect.
Now, be careful with using present continuous for speaking of future intentions. We do not use present continuous for future continual activities. We use future continuous. Therefore, write:
At ten o' clock you will be doing your homework. ("ten o' clock" is a specific time reference and not a period of time, so if you do speak of the 3 hours, you must use a perfect tense of some form).
From February,you will be studying English for 2 years.
Well, with some context, the sentence is acceptable and says that you start a course of English for two years, next February.
What if I change the From to In?Does it make sense?And if it does,could it be the alternate for the future perfect continious?
Think of "from" as a directional preposition. I am from Ireland. I work from Monday to Friday every week.
Think of "in" as a preposition of a non-specific place/time: "In an hour, I must teach" (that could be 59 minutes, it could 30 minutes).
"From" is fine in this example. But when you use "in" to me as a native speaker, you take me into a period of time (think of how we think of walking into a room - now think of the room as a period of time), and February only has 28/29 days (not two years). Therefore, only "in February, you will be studying English". is okay.
Hope it helps.  |