Forum newsfeeds
Forum Newsfeeds


Sites for Teachers

Sites for Teachers


Go Back   UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum > Learning English > General Language Discussions

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 08-Feb-2008, 09:05
Newbie
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Country: Vietnam
Posts: 7
Current Location: Hanoi
First Language: Vietnamese
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Orientale is on a distinguished road
Default will have gone vs will be going

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 !
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 08-Feb-2008, 09:10
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Country: UK
Posts: 557
Current Location: Russia
First Language: English
Thanks: 0
Thanked 137 Times in 132 Posts
Horsa will become famous soon enoughHorsa will become famous soon enough
Default Re: will have gone vs will be going

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.
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 08-Feb-2008, 09:58
BobK's Avatar
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Country: England (South East)
Posts: 4,974
Current Location: England (South East)
First Language: English
Thanks: 36
Thanked 383 Times in 340 Posts
BobK is just really niceBobK is just really niceBobK is just really niceBobK is just really nice
Default Re: will have gone vs will be going

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
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 08-Feb-2008, 13:39
Newbie
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Country: Vietnam
Posts: 7
Current Location: Hanoi
First Language: Vietnamese
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Orientale is on a distinguished road
Default Re: will have gone vs will be going

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 ?
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old 08-Feb-2008, 14:07
BobK's Avatar
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Country: England (South East)
Posts: 4,974
Current Location: England (South East)
First Language: English
Thanks: 36
Thanked 383 Times in 340 Posts
BobK is just really niceBobK is just really niceBobK is just really niceBobK is just really nice
Default Re: will have gone vs will be going

Quote:
Originally Posted by Orientale View Post
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.'
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old 10-Feb-2008, 06:23
Newbie
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Country: Vietnam
Posts: 7
Current Location: Hanoi
First Language: Vietnamese
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Orientale is on a distinguished road
Default Re: will have gone vs will be going

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.
Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)  
Old 10-Feb-2008, 16:00
BobK's Avatar
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Country: England (South East)
Posts: 4,974
Current Location: England (South East)
First Language: English
Thanks: 36
Thanked 383 Times in 340 Posts
BobK is just really niceBobK is just really niceBobK is just really niceBobK is just really nice
Default Re: will have gone vs will be going

Quote:
Originally Posted by Orientale View Post
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
Reply With Quote
  #8 (permalink)  
Old 20-Apr-2008, 10:29
Newbie
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Country: Mexico
Posts: 11
Current Location: Mexico
First Language: Spanish
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
ProfCruz is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Re: will have gone vs will be going

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.
Reply With Quote
  #9 (permalink)  
Old 10-May-2008, 19:53
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Country: Bosnia
Posts: 308
Current Location: the learner's home place here in Bosnia
First Language: serbocroatian
Thanks: 65
Thanked 46 Times in 45 Posts
e2e4 will become famous soon enough
Default

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.
Reply With Quote
  #10 (permalink)  
Old 10-May-2008, 21:09
RonBee's Avatar
Moderator
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Country: USA
Posts: 13,041
Current Location: North Carolina
First Language: English
Thanks: 57
Thanked 681 Times in 613 Posts
RonBee is a splendid one to beholdRonBee is a splendid one to beholdRonBee is a splendid one to beholdRonBee is a splendid one to beholdRonBee is a splendid one to beholdRonBee is a splendid one to behold
Default Re: will have gone vs will be going

Quote:
Originally Posted by e2e4 View Post
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.
__________________
~R
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


New To Site? Need Help?

All times are GMT. The time now is 18:46.


vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.2.0 RC5
Copyright © 2002 - 2008 UsingEnglish.com