[General] The boy is having/will be having his final exam ...

[DANAU]

Hi.

I have read up on both Present Continuous tense and Future Continuous tense, but I am still
having difficulty understanding the key difference and their usage.
Or is it true that in most cases, both can be used interchangeably ?

I wrote the sentences below. Please let me know if both are acceptable.


- The boy "is having" his final exam end of this year.
- The boy "will be having" his final exam end of this year.

- The teacher "is conducting" a make-up class next week.
- The teacher "will be conducting" a make-up class next week.

 

[tedmc]

Re: Present Continuous vs Future Continuous

The future continuous tense is used for events in the near future, so there is no difference from the future continuous sense in the two sentences.

 

[Rover_KE]

Again, I have changed your thread title.

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'

 

[jutfrank]

No, they are not interchangeable. They have different uses.

It seems as if you mean to use present continuous in those sentences. What was your reason to use future continuous? Tell us what you have learnt so far about the key differences..

 

[DANAU]

No, they are not interchangeable. They have different uses.

It seems as if you mean to use present continuous in those sentences. What was your reason to use future continuous? Tell us what you have learnt so far about the key differences..

Hi Jutfrank.

Below is an extract from the website that I learnt from and it suggests that there are times we could use both.

[ The present continuous is used for a definite arrangement as opposed to a decision to do something.

There are times when you could use both, but if you are trying to say that you have an arrangement to do something, and so can’t do something else, you would use the present continuous to show this.
c) I’m having lunch with Mary tomorrow.
It is true that at a particular time in the future, you will be having lunch with Mary, but if you want to show that you have made arrangements to see Mary. You have made bookings, bought travel tickets, or concert tickets etc.

Exercise 1
Choose the correct option, or underline both if both are possible.
a) We are flying/we will be flying to China next Wednesday at 9am. Our flight departs at 7am.
b) At this time next week, we’re lying/we’ll be lying on the beach in Mauritius. I can’t wait!
c) My brother and his friend are going hiking/will be going hiking in the jungle tomorrow I’m worried about him – I hope he’ll be ok.
d) The train station is having/will be having major renovation work in June. Prepare to have disruptions on your daily commute.
e) My father is getting married/will be getting married again on Saturday morning. This will be his fifth marriage!
f) I can’t believe at this time next week we’ll be getting married/we are getting
g) We are starting university/will be starting University next Autumn. I can’t believe how time flies.
h) My family will be going on holiday/is going on holiday to London in August. ]

Going through each of the sentences above, I feel that only sentence (b) and (d) need to use future continuous while the rest could be interchangeable between the two tenses.

Initially I was thinking present continuous applies to more immediate future while future continuous is used for distant future.
But, I also saw examples in other websites that do not keep to this rule. So I am rather confused.

Yes you are right - I prefer to use present continuous tense in my 2 sentences but I am not sure if that is right, or should I use future continuous.

 

[jutfrank]

I feel that only sentence (b) and (d) need to use future continuous while the rest could be interchangeable between the two tenses.

First of all, only (b) needs to use future continuous. None of the others do. However, that does not mean that future continuous cannot be used in some of them.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'interchangeable'. Different tenses have different uses. You can't just swap tenses around without making some kind of change.

Initially I was thinking present continuous applies to more immediate future while future continuous is used for distant future.

No, that's not right.

I am rather confused.

I can see. My first advice is to stop doing exercises such as the one from that site. The second advice is to stop reading websites that don't know what they're talking about.

You should understand that the future continuous has several different uses. I'll give you three:

1) Reassuring/reasserting arrangements

We'll be eating at eight, so don't be late.


2) Threatening or promising future action

I shall be writing to your mother.


3) Logical deduction/speculation

I expect you'll be feeling hungry.

The first of these three uses is the most commonly used one, so that's where you should focus first. Unfortunately, it's also the hardest to use.

I've taken all three of these examples from a book called Teaching Tenses, by Rosemary Aitken, which is a very good book written especially for teachers. However, I find it is useful for learners too, since it describes the uses of tenses very clearly and gives some very good examples.

 

[DANAU]

Thank you jutfrank for your explanation and recommendation of the book. It is much clearer to me now, particularly on the point that the usage has nothing to do with time. As for "interchangeable", I was referring to the flexibility to be able to use both present and future continuous specifically for the few practice sentences, and not referring to other cases.