Advanced Future Forms and Future in the Past
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
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.
Help the frantic sci-fi convention organizer finalize the schedule updates by dragging the correct nuanced future forms into the blanks.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
Complete the eccentric billionaire's press release about the upcoming Mars mission by dragging the most appropriate future phrases into the blanks.
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.
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.
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.
Conditional sentence
Want to say I would have caught the train if I'd left earlier without freezing on the verb forms? That's a third conditional, and it's one of five patterns English uses to talk about possibilities, regrets, and hypotheticals. Get the system right and you stop sounding stuck in the present tense.
A conditional sentence pairs a condition clause (usually with if) with a consequence clause: If it rains, we stay in. The five named patterns — zero, first, second, third, and mixed — each match a specific time frame and likelihood, with their own tense rules.
Future tense
If you've ever wondered why a native speaker said I'm meeting her tomorrow instead of I will meet her tomorrow — you've felt the future-tense puzzle. English has at least four common ways to talk about the future, and they're not interchangeable. Pick the wrong one and you sound either unnaturally formal or surprisingly vague about your own plans.
English uses several constructions for future time: will + infinitive (predictions, spontaneous decisions: I'll call), be going to (planned intentions, evidence-based predictions: It's going to rain), the present continuous for arrangements (I'm meeting Sam at six), and the present simple for fixed schedules (The train leaves at 8).
Gerund
If you've ever said I enjoy to read or good at to swim and wondered why it sounded wrong, you've met the gerund. English is fussy about which structures take -ing and which take to + verb, and getting this wrong is one of the most common giveaways that someone learned grammar from a list rather than from real usage.
A gerund is the -ing form of a verb acting as a noun — reading, swimming, being late. After many common verbs (enjoy, avoid, finish) and after every preposition, English demands the gerund, never the infinitive.
Infinitive
If you've ever written I enjoy to swim or He let me to go and only later learned why both are wrong — you've hit the infinitive's main puzzle. English is fussy: some verbs demand the to-infinitive, some demand the bare infinitive, some demand the gerund, and a few accept multiple options with different meanings (remember to lock vs remember locking).
The infinitive is the basic form of a verb, used non-finitely. The to-infinitive (to go) follows verbs like want, decide, plan; the bare infinitive (go) follows modal verbs (can, will) and causatives (Let him go).
Modal verb
If you've ever struggled with the difference between You must do this (strong command) and You should do this (advice) — or It might rain (possible) and It will rain (certain) — you've felt how much modal verbs do in English. They're how the language signals certainty, obligation, possibility, and politeness, and getting them right is what stops your speech from sounding either pushy or wishy-washy.
A modal verb is an auxiliary — can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would — adding meaning around ability, permission, possibility, obligation, or speculation. Always followed by the bare infinitive (can swim, never can to swim), and never inflected for person.
Past tense
If you've ever told a story in English and felt the timeline get tangled — I came home, the dog ate, the cat slept — you've hit the limits of using simple past for everything. The past tense system has four forms specifically because real stories have layered timing: things that happened before other things, actions caught in progress, sequences of completed events.
The past tense has four English forms: simple past (I walked), past progressive (I was walking), past perfect (I had walked — earlier than another past event), past perfect progressive (I had been walking — ongoing up to a past point). Plus irregular verbs for the simple-past form.
Phrase
If you've ever read a long sentence in English and felt lost in the middle, you've hit a sentence with too many phrases stacked together. Learning to spot phrases — on the table, the man with the hat, very quickly — turns dense prose into something you can parse: each phrase is one chunk of meaning, not a string of unrelated words.
A phrase is a group of words functioning as a single unit in a sentence, without a subject + verb pair (which would make it a clause). Types include noun phrase (the red car), verb phrase (has been running), prepositional phrase (on the table), and adjective/adverb phrases.
Verb
If grammar feels overwhelming, the fix is almost always to focus on verbs first. They carry the action, the time, the mood, and the voice — a single verb form decides whether your sentence reads as past or present, fact or hypothetical, active or passive. Get verbs solid and the rest of grammar suddenly looks much smaller.
A verb expresses action, state, or occurrence — the engine of every English sentence. Most verbs have five forms (base, -s, past tense, past participle, -ing); be has eight; modal verbs have fewer. Verbs carry tense, aspect, mood, and voice.
Passive voice
If your writing has been called "weak" or "evasive" — Mistakes were made, It was decided that... — you've hit the passive voice's main pitfall. Used deliberately, the passive is precise and useful: it foregrounds the action when the doer doesn't matter. Used by default, it makes prose feel like nobody's responsible for anything.
The passive voice is formed with be + past participle and turns the object into the subject: The chef cooked the meal → The meal was cooked (by the chef). Useful when the action matters more than the doer; overused, it makes writing feel evasive.
Verb tense
If you've ever frozen mid-sentence wondering whether to say I worked or I have worked, I had been doing or I was doing — you've felt the weight of English's tense system. Twelve forms, each with a specific job, and the wrong choice subtly misrepresents your meaning. Mastering tenses is the longest single project in English grammar, but it's also the one with the biggest payoff.
Verb tense signals when an action happens. English has three time references (past, present, future) combined with three aspects (simple, progressive, perfect), giving twelve standard forms. Each carries a specific meaning beyond just timing.
Perfect tense
If you've ever written I am living here for ten years (should be have lived or have been living) — you've hit the perfect tense's main puzzle. English insists that "started in the past, still true now" lives in the present perfect, not the simple present. Get this clear and a whole class of common errors disappears.
The perfect aspect marks completion relative to a point in time, formed with have + past participle: I have eaten (present perfect), She had finished (past perfect), They will have arrived (future perfect). Combinable with progressive aspect (I have been working).
Progressive tense
If you've ever paused over I work in London vs I'm working in London and not been sure which to pick — you've hit the simple/progressive distinction. The first means it's your usual job; the second means it's temporary, going on right now. Native speakers reach for this distinction constantly without thinking; learners have to make it deliberate.
The progressive aspect marks ongoing action at a time of reference, formed with be + -ing: I am working, She was reading, They will be travelling. Marks temporary or in-progress events. Stative verbs (know, believe, own) don't normally take it.
Idiom
If you've ever heard a native speaker say that's a piece of cake and wondered what cake had to do with anything — you've met your first idiom. English films, songs, and casual chat are full of these fixed expressions, and missing them leaves the meaning slightly off-kilter. Learning idioms in chunks is the fastest way to stop sounding overly formal.
An idiom is a fixed phrase whose meaning isn't built from its individual words. Kick the bucket (= to die), spill the beans (= reveal a secret), break a leg (= good luck). They have to be memorised as whole units; word-by-word translation almost always misleads.
C1 | Advanced
If you've ever sat through a lecture in English, written a complaint letter, or argued a point in a meeting and come out feeling actually understood — not just tolerated — you've felt what C1 looks like. The level matters because it's where most universities, certifications, and skilled-work environments draw their language line.
C1 is the advanced level in the CEFR framework, demanding fluent and flexible language: inversion for emphasis, mixed and advanced conditionals, formal subjunctive, cleft sentences, and complex nominal phrases — all used appropriately across registers.
Difficulty: Hard
If easy and medium questions are clicking but you still feel exposed in real conversation or formal writing, you've outgrown the basics. Hard material is where the gaps you didn't know you had show up: the distractor that "sounds right", the rule that interacts with another rule, the case where context changes the answer. It's where genuine fluency is built.
The Hard difficulty tag marks upper-intermediate to advanced challenges — typically B2 and above. Interacting rules, edge cases, plausible distractors, and contexts that require genuine understanding rather than surface pattern-matching.