will have gone vs will be going

[Orientale]

Hi all,

Could someone please tell me if these sentences are correct :
By then, I will have gone without food for five days.
By then, I will be going without food for five days.
and if yes, what is the eventual difference between them ?

Thanks in advance !

[Horsa]

The first is correct because the use of the perfect makes it refer backwards from a point in the future.

The second doesn't work because 'By then' which contains the meaning of 'before' contradicts the future meaning contained in the future continuous.

[BobK]

Of course, that doesn't mean (as Orientale might conclude) that "By then + <future continuous>" is always wrong - simply that the adverb phrase must refer to a future state. This is fine, for example: "The rocket will eventually crash into Mars. By then it will be travelling at twice its present speed."

b

[Orientale]

Indeed, in my two sentences above, "by then" refer to a future state. Here is some more context :
You say you will return in two weeks. By then, I will have gone without food for five days / I will be going without food for five days.
Are thay all correct ?

[BobK]

Indeed, in my two sentences above, "by then" refer to a future state. Here is some more context :
You say you will return in two weeks. By then, I will have gone without food for five days / I will be going without food for five days.
Are thay all correct ?

In the second case the verb is referring to a state of affairs that will have been true by the time referred to ('By then'), so you need* the future perfect continuous: "By then I will have been going without food for five days'. This isn't as much of a mouthful as it looks: in informal speech, "I will have been" is realized as only three syllables: /aɪləvbɪƞ/.

b

*Ideally. In practice, I imagine people might get by with some less demanding structure, by using a paraphrase such as 'By then it'll be five days since I had anything to eat.'

[Orientale]

Thanks for your help, BobK !

In this case, would be there any difference between the futur perfect and the futur perfect continuous ?
You say you will return in two weeks. By then, I will have gone without food for five days / I will have been going without food for five days.

Thanks also for the suggestion on using a paraphrase... I've just started learning this language.

[BobK]

Thanks for your help, BobK !

In this case, would be there any difference between the futur perfect and the futur perfect continuous ?
You say you will return in two weeks. By then, I will have gone without food for five days / I will have been going without food for five days.

Thanks also for the suggestion on using a paraphrase... I've just started learning this language.

Well, there's a difference, but mainly of focus.

By then I will have lasted five days without food [the implication is 'That's as much as I'm prepared to put up with, so don't expect me to hold out any longer' - the focus is on the final state]

By then I will have been going without food for five days [the focus is on the state that has continued - 'By then I'll have been going without for five days, so another day or two won't make much difference']

But this is quite a subtle point. If you've only just started learning, I'm impressed. ;-D

b

[ProfCruz]

By then, I will have gone without food for five days.
(Using 'then', connotate a specific point in time, preceeded by the verb phrase 'have gone' denoting pass tense.)

By then, I will be going without food for five days.
(As in above, however, 'will be going' denotes future tense.

[e2e4]

You're worried about missing the food in the close future.
The food you need is going to arrive on first of April.

By then you'll have gone of not having any food for 5 days. (future perfect tense)

I wouldn't say:

By then I will have been going of not having any food for 5 days. (future perfect continuous)

Anyway on the day the food arrives you will be laying in bed thinking about Coca Cola. (future continuous tense) or

The day the food arrives you'll be laying... ( informal, am...)

On that very day next year you will not be runing out of food for sure.

[RonBee]

You're worried about missing the food in the close future.
The food you need is going to arrive on first of April.

By then you'll have gone of not having any food for 5 days. (future perfect tense)

I wouldn't say:

By then I will have been going of not having any food for 5 days. (future perfect continuous)

Anyway on the day the food arrives you will be laying in bed thinking about Coca Cola. (future continuous tense) or

The day the food arrives you'll be laying... ( informal, am...)

On that very day next year you will not be runing out of food for sure.