They will wait till it grows dark.
When she comes, ask her to type this letter.
Unless you’re careful, you'll get into trouble.
Care should be taken to distinguish between the adverbial clauses of time or condition and object clauses introduced by the conjunctions when and if, in the case of object clauses any tense required by the sense can be used:
I don’t know when I’ll come again.
Ask him if he’ll do it at all.
§ 45. The Future indefinite can express various shades of aspective meaning, depending on the lexical meaning of the verb and the context. Therefore the ways of rendering it in Russian may be different. It can be translated by the future tense of both perfective and imperfective aspects with all possible shades of their meanings. Here are some examples:
I’ll write this letter on Sunday. | Я напишу это письмо в воскресенье. (A perfective action.) |
She will stay with them for а whole week. | Она будет гостить у них целую неделю. (An imperfective, durative action.) |
I shall write to you every day. | Я буду писать тебе каждый день (An imperfective, iterative action.) |
Don’t be afraid, I shan’t hit him. | He бойся, я его не ударю. (A perfective, momentary action.) |
The future continuous
§ 46. Formation. All the forms of the future continuous are analytic. They are formed with the future indefinite of the auxiliary to be (shall be, will be) and participle I of the notional verb.
In the interrogative the corresponding form of the first auxiliary (shall/will) is placed in front of the subject, the second auxiliary (be) and participle I follow the subject.
In the negative the corresponding negative forms of the first auxiliary (shall/will) are used, the second auxiliary (be) and participle I follow them.
In the negative-interrogative the corresponding negative-interrogativte forms of the first auxiliary (shall/will) are used, the second auxiliary (be) and participle I follow the subject.
The paradigm of the verb in the future continuous
Affirmative | Interrogative |
I shall be speaking He (she, it) will be speaking We shall be speaking You will be speaking They will be speaking | Shall I be speaking? Will he (she, it) be speaking? Shall we be speaking? Will you be speaking? Will they be speaking? |
Negative
I shall not (shan’t) be speaking He (she, it) will not (won’t) be speaking We shall not (shan’t) be speaking You will not (won’t) be speaking They will not (won’t) be speaking |
Negative-interrogative
a) | Shall I not be speaking? Will he (she, it) not be speaking? Shall we not be speaking? Will you not be speaking? Will they not be speaking? | b) | Shan’t I be speaking? Won’t he (she, it) be speaking? Shan’t we be speaking? Won’t you be speaking? Won’t they be speaking? |
§ 47. The future continuous is used to denote:
1. An action in progress at a certain moment of time or during a certain period of time in the future (compare the corresponding use of the past continuous).
At that time she will be having her early morning cup of coffee.
In an hour I'll be flying over the sea.
When she comes, I think I’ll be packing already.
It will be too late. He will be sleeping.
From ten till twelve he will be writing in his study.
As can be seen from the above examples, the moment (or period) of time at which the action is taking place is either indicated by special adverbials of time, or is implied by another future action, or else by the context or situation.
2. An action the occurrence of which is expected by the speaker.
By the way, Megan will be coming to lunch.
She says she’ll be seeing you tomorrow.
In all its uses the future continuous is rendered in Russian by means of the future tense of the imperfective aspect (будет пить, буду лететь, буду упаковываться, etc.).
The future perfect
§ 48. Formation. The future perfect is formed analytically by means of the auxiliary to have in the future indefinite (shall/will have) and participle II of the notional verb.
In the interrogative the corresponding form of the first auxiliary (shall/will) is used in the front position and the second auxiliary (have) and participle II follow the subject.
In the negative the corresponding negative forms of shall/will are used and the second auxiliary (have) and participle II follow them.
In the negative-interrogative the corresponding negative-interrogative forms of shall/will are used in the front position and the second auxiliary and participle II follow the subject.
The paradigm of the verb in the future perfect
Affirmative | Interrogative |
I shall have spoken He (she, it) will have spoken We shall have spoken You will have spoken They will have spoken | Shall I have spoken? Will he (she, it) have spoken? Shall we have spoken? Will you have spoken? Will they have spoken? |
Negative
I shall not (shan’t) have spoken He (she, it) will not (won’t) have spoken We shall not (shan’t) have spoken You will not (won’t) have spoken They will not (won’t) have spoken |
§ 49. The future perfect is very rarely used either in conversation or in writing.
It is used to denote:
1. An action that both begins and ends before, a definite moment of time in the future (the exclusive future perfect).
"I have no doubt," I said, "that I shall have seen anybody who is anybody by then."
You will have got my cable and I shall have received your answer long before this letter reaches you.
The moment in the future before which the action is to begin and end may be indicated by appropriate adverbials or other verbs denoting future actions, or by the whole context or situation.
2. An action that begins before a certain moment of time in the future and goes up to it or into it. This is the case when the action in question is expressed by statal verbs, which do not admit of continuous forms, or else by certain actional durative verbs, such as to live, to study, to work, etc., which denote a process (the inclusive future perfect).
She will have been in your service fifteen years next year.
The future perfect continuous
§ 50. Formation. The future perfect continuous is formed analytically by means of the auxiliary to be in the future perfect (shall/will have been) and participle I of the notional verb.
Their interrogative, negative and negative-interrogative forms are built similar to other future forms.
The paradigm of the verb in the future perfect continuous
Affirmative | Interrogative | |||
I We | shall have been speaking | Shall | I we | have been speaking |
He (she, it) You They | will have been speaking | Will | he (she, it) you they | have been speaking? |
Negative
I We | shall not (shan't) have been speaking | |
He (she, it) You They | will not (won't) have been speaking |
§ 51. The future perfect continuous is very rarely used, because situations which require it very seldom arise. It denotes actions which begin before a certain moment of time in the future and go on up to that moment or into it:
I shall have been living there for five years next February.
§ 52. There are four more future tense verb forms in English: the future in the past indefinite, the future in the past continuous, the future in the past perfect, the future in the past perfect continuous, which differ from the previously discussed forms. They refer the actions not to the actual future, but to the future viewed as such from the standpoint of past time.
The future in the past forms are dependent, as they are used mainly in object clauses in reported speech after verbs in the past tense forms.
The most frequently used is the future in the past indefinite (the past simple).
§ 53. Formation. All the future in the past forms are analytical. They are formed by means of the auxiliaries should and would and the corresponding form of the notional verb (should speak, should be speaking, should have spoken, should have been speaking)*.
* The contracted form for both ‘would’ and ‘should’ is ‘d: I’d speak...
The paradigms of the verb in the future in the past
The future in the past indefinite
Affirmative | Interrogative* | |||||||
I We | should speak | Should | I we | speak? | ||||
He (she, it) You They | would speak | Would | he (she, it) you they | speak? |
Negative
I We | should not speak | |
He (she, it) You They | would not speak |
* The interrogative future in the past occurs only in sentences reproducing inner speech (conventional direct speech).
§ 54. The future in the past forms are mostly used in object clauses dependent on verbs in the past tense in the principal clause. None of them can be used in subordinate adverbial clauses of time and condition introduced by the conjunctions when, while, before, after, till, until, as soon as, as long as, if, unless, in case, on condition that, provided, etc. In all these clauses the corresponding forms of the past tense are used.