Advanced Future Forms and Future in the Past: correct answers
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English future forms go far beyond simple will and going to. Advanced structures allow us to express exact durations leading up to a future point (e.g., "By tomorrow, I will have been working for 24 hours"), unfulfilled plans from a past perspective (e.g., "The building was to have been a masterpiece"), and strong expectations (e.g., "They are bound to arrive soon").
In this challenge, you will help time travelers, dramatic architects, and frantic event planners navigate highly specific timelines. You will practice the future perfect continuous for ongoing actions before a future deadline, "future in the past" forms for interrupted or changed plans, and nuanced phrases like be to, bound to, and on the verge of for formal schedules and immediate futures.
You'll work through 10 questions in a mix of single-choice, multi-choice, drop-down, and drag-and-drop formats.
Try the quiz to check your knowledge!
Correct answers
Question 1
Help the dramatic architect complain about a ruined masterpiece.
The grand glass pavilion ________ the crown jewel of our city's skyline, but unfortunately, the mayor abruptly canceled the funding last year.
The correct answer is was to have been.
To express an unfulfilled plan or arrangement in the past, we can use the quasi-modal structure was/were to have + past participle. It elegantly shows that something was officially planned but never actually happened.
"Must have been" expresses a logical deduction about something that did happen, which contradicts the mayor canceling the funding.
Question 2
Help the frantic sci-fi convention organizer finalize the schedule updates by choosing the correct nuanced future form for each blank.
By the time the doors open tomorrow, our exhausted volunteer team will have been setting up the vendor booths for a straight 48 hours.
I wouldn't bother calling the keynote speaker right now; she will be sleeping off her jet lag at the hotel after that long flight from Tokyo.
The highly anticipated "Time Travel for Beginners" panel is due to begin at noon sharp, assuming no one accidentally alters the timeline before then.
By the time the doors open tomorrow, our exhausted volunteer team will have been setting up the vendor booths for a straight 48 hours.
We use the future perfect continuous (will have been doing) to emphasize the duration of an ongoing action leading up to a specific point in the future. The phrase "for a straight 48 hours" triggers this need for duration.
I wouldn't bother calling the keynote speaker right now; she will be sleeping off her jet lag at the hotel after that long flight from Tokyo.
The future continuous (will be doing) can be used to make a confident deduction about an action that is happening right now in the present.
The highly anticipated "Time Travel for Beginners" panel is due to begin at noon sharp, assuming no one accidentally alters the timeline before then.
The phrase is due to is used for formal, scheduled events that are expected to happen at a specific time.
Question 3
will have been crunching
The phrase "By the time... tomorrow" combined with the duration "for 48 straight hours" requires the Future Perfect Continuous tense to emphasize an ongoing action leading up to a specific point in the future.
should have finished
We use should + have + past participle to express an expectation that an action will be completed by a certain point in the future (indicated here by "by 8:59 AM"). "Must have finished" is used for past deductions, not future expectations.
will have to
The sentence uses a first conditional structure ("if the system fails" - present simple), which requires a future form in the main clause to express a realistic future consequence or obligation.
Question 4
Complete the cybersecurity expert's confident prediction about the system recovery.
As long as the mainframe's processing power remains stable, the corrupted data ________ fully restored by the time the CEO arrives tomorrow morning.
The correct answer is will have been.
We use the future perfect passive (will have been + past participle) to describe an action that will be completed before a specific point in the future (indicated here by the phrase "by the time the CEO arrives tomorrow morning").
"Would have been" is incorrect because the condition is in the present tense ("remains"), not a past hypothetical. "Had been" is past perfect and contradicts the future timeframe, while "is being" refers to an action happening right now.
Question 5
will have been dancing
The time marker "By midnight" paired with the duration "for four hours" necessitates the Future Perfect Continuous tense to show how long an action will have been in progress up to a future point.
should be starting
"At that exact moment" focuses on a specific point in the future, calling for a continuous aspect. The modal should is used here to express a strong expectation based on a schedule or plan.
hasn't forgotten
After conditional conjunctions like "provided (that)", "if", or "as long as", we cannot use future forms like "won't". Instead, we use the present simple or present perfect to refer to future conditions. The present perfect emphasizes that the act of forgetting (or not forgetting) must be completed before the fireworks can start.
Question 6
Complete the stranded time traveler's diary entry.
If my temporal calculations are correct, by the time the rescue squad finally reaches me in 2080, I ________ on this barren asteroid for precisely five decades.
The correct answer is will have been living.
We use the future perfect continuous (will have been + verb-ing) to project ourselves forward in time and look back at the duration of an ongoing action. The phrase "for precisely five decades" requires the perfect continuous aspect, eliminating "will be living."
"Would have been living" is used for unreal past conditions (third conditional), and "must have lived" is a deduction about the past.
Question 7
The correct answers are: By the time I reach 2050, the syndicate will have already stolen the artifact. At precisely midnight tomorrow, I might be interrogating the cyborg boss. The temporal portal is highly likely to close before I can jump back.
"Will have already stolen" correctly uses the future perfect to describe an action completed before a specific point in the future.
"Might be interrogating" pairs a modal of possibility with the continuous aspect to describe an action in progress at a future time.
"Is highly likely to" correctly expresses strong future probability.
"Will have been being" is incorrect because be is a stative verb and is rarely used in the continuous form for the future perfect (it should be will have been undercover).
"Must to be" is incorrect because true modals like must are followed by the bare infinitive (must be restored).
Question 8
Complete the eccentric billionaire's press release about the upcoming Mars mission by choosing the most appropriate future phrase for each blank.
Our brilliant engineers are on the verge of finalizing the rocket's propulsion system, so expect an official announcement any minute now.
Given the sheer amount of global media hype, the launch broadcast is bound to break all previous viewership records.
By the end of this decade, humanity will have established a permanent foothold on the red planet.
Our brilliant engineers are on the verge of finalizing the rocket's propulsion system, so expect an official announcement any minute now.
On the verge of + gerund is used to describe an action that is at the very point of happening (the immediate future). The clue "any minute now" confirms this immediacy.
Given the sheer amount of global media hype, the launch broadcast is bound to break all previous viewership records.
Bound to + infinitive expresses a very strong certainty or inevitability about a future event based on current evidence (the media hype). On the verge to break is grammatically incorrect (it must be of breaking).
By the end of this decade, humanity will have established a permanent foothold on the red planet.
The future perfect (will have done) is required here because the time marker "By the end of this decade" sets a future deadline before which the action will be completed.
Question 9
The correct answers are: The caterers are to arrive at exactly 4:00 PM at the side entrance. The bride's father is bound to cry during the toast, so I should prepare tissues. The band is due to start playing their first set at 8:00 PM.
"Are to arrive" is used for formal arrangements and instructions.
"Is bound to" acts as a semi-modal expressing a strong future certainty or prediction.
"Is due to" is the correct structure for scheduled events.
"On the verge to collapse" is incorrect; the correct idiom is on the verge of collapsing.
"Will have be arriving" mixes up future perfect and future continuous; it should be will be arriving or will have arrived.
Question 10
The correct answers are: I was to have inherited the haunted mansion, but my uncle changed his will at the last minute. I was going to haunt the new owners, but I got distracted by a shiny mirror in the hallway. I would have had to vacate the premises eventually anyway, since the house was scheduled for demolition.
"Was to have inherited" is an advanced structure used to describe a formal arrangement in the past that was not fulfilled.
"Was going to haunt" correctly expresses a past intention that didn't happen.
"Would have had to" correctly uses a past modal to describe a hypothetical future obligation from a past perspective.
"Was on the point to leave" is incorrect; the phrase requires a gerund (was on the point of leaving).
"Should be haunting... yesterday" is incorrect; past unfulfilled obligations require should have been haunting.