Three Step English for Intermediate Learners - Learn #33 - Future Plans & Expectations - Grammar
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Let's look at the sentence pattern. This pattern is the structure that all of our examples will follow. Noun + will be, verb -ing. This pattern expresses a future arrangement or planned action. We begin with a noun, the subject involved in the future action. Next, we use will be, indicating a definite action happening at a specific time in the future.

Finally, we add the verb in the progressive form by appending -ing to the infinitive. This puts the phrase into the future continuous tense, clearly showing that this activity will be ongoing or in progress at a certain moment. Let's see how a line from the dialogue follows this pattern.

"We'll be waiting for you at 7:00 p.m." Here, "we" is our noun. It's the people who have planned the arrangement. Then, "will be" clearly signals a definite action in the future. Lastly, "waiting" is the verb in the progressive or continuous form, emphasizing that the action, "waiting," will be actively happening at the specified future time, 7:00 p.m.

Will + verb and will be + verb -ing are similar future tense phrases, but they describe different kinds of actions and events. When you say something with the pattern will + verb, it's just a simple future action. It expresses something that will happen often as a decision, a promise, or a prediction. The action is seen as a single event, not something happening over time.

"will be" plus verb "ing" is used when we want to talk about an action that will be in progress at a specific time in the future. It focuses on the ongoing nature of the action. Now, let's look at some speaking examples. "I'll be expecting your call later today." Can you see how the pattern applies here?

"I" is the noun. "Will be" is the future structure, here reduced with "I" to make "I'll be." And "expecting" is the base verb "expect" with "ing." This sentence means that after the conversation, the speaker will continuously expect the listener's call today. Next. "I won't be attending class next week because I will be traveling."

This sentence has two future arrangements. First, I won't be attending. I is the noun. Won't be is the negative form of will be, and attending is the ing verb. It shows that the speaker will not attend class throughout the week. Then, I will be traveling, another future arrangement using the same pattern. It tells us what the speaker will be doing instead during that time period.

Let's try one more. I'll be waiting for you at the tennis club on Saturday. Here, "I" is the noun, "will be" shows the future, and "waiting" is the -ing form of the verb. This tells the listener what the speaker will be doing on Saturday. In this case, waiting. Another one. I have the day off tomorrow, so I won't be seeing you at the cafe.

I is the noun, won't be is the negative future, and seeing is the verb in -ing form. This shows that tomorrow the speaker won't see the listener throughout the day. In other words, they won't meet. One last example. I will be coming to the barbecue at 6:30. I is the noun, will be marks the future, and coming is the -ing verb.

it tells the listener the speaker's plan. At 6:30, they will be on their way or arriving at the barbecue.