[Grammar] Will have been training or would have been training

[Oceanlike]

In the sentence below, I chose ‘would have been training’ instead of ‘will have been training’ simply because it sounds better. Although my guess was right according to the answer key, I do not understand why ‘will have been training’ is incorrect in this sentence.

By January next year, Pamela would have been training with this team for five years and her team-mates will throw a party for her


I would appreciate your explaining to me the grammar rule behind it.

Thank you!

 

[tzfujimino]

I would have chosen "will have been ..."
I can see no reason to use "would have been ..."

(I don't think 'teammate' has to be hyphenated.)

 

[Raymott]

You can use either. "Will have been" implies that she will still be training. You'd use that if you believed it unlikely that she's going to stop. "Would have been" is conditional, and might suggest that she's thinking of leaving. The implicit condition is "if she's still training here". You'd need to change "will throw a party" to "would throw a party".

If Pamela has unfortunately died, you can still say, "By January next year, Pamela would have been training with this team for five years and her team-mates would have thrown a party for her." The implicit condition here is "if she hadn't died."

 

[SoothingDave]

I think the "by next January" bit is supposed to make you choose the "will have been." It's certainly the answer I find more natural.

 

[tzfujimino]

It seems like a grammar exercise from a book, since the OP mentions 'the answer key'.
We can't change the "her team-mates will throw a party" part, can we?

 

[Raymott]

It seems like a grammar exercise from a book, since the OP mentions 'the answer key'.
We can't change the "her team-mates will throw a party" part, can we?

That's right. If that part is unchangeable, then it has to be "will have been".

 

[Oceanlike]

It seems like a grammar exercise from a book, since the OP mentions 'the answer key'.
We can't change the "her team-mates will throw a party" part, can we?

You are right. Can't change the "her teammates......" part as that is part of the question. Thank you!