Le futur progressif (ou future progressive / future continuous) sert à indiquer qu’on sera en train de faire quelque chose a un moment précis du futur. C’est un temps pas vraiment simple à maîtriser au départ, mais que les anglophones utilisent beaucoup.
- I will be waiting for you tonight. (= Je t’attendrai ce soir.)
- He will be watching TV at 8pm. (= Il sera en train de regarder la télé à 20h.)
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1/ Formation du futur progressif
sujet + will be + verbe-ing
| Affirmative | Négative | Question | |
| I / you / he / she / it / we / they | will be playing_ | will not (= won’t) be playing_ | Will I / he / we etc. be playing ?_ |
Tomorrow afternoon,
- (+) he will be playing tennis. (= He’ll be playing.)
- (-) he will not be playing. (= He won’t be playing.)
- (?) will he be playing tennis ?
2/ Utilisation
On utilise le futur progressif pour exprimer:
* Une action ou événement en train de se passer (ou en progression) dans le futur
- I will be travelling in Japan for the next two weeks.
- Tonight at 10 PM, I will be watching TV.
- Next weekend, what will you be doing?
- In an hour, I will be eating lunch.
- This time next week, I will be relaxing at the beach.
- ACDC will be performing in Germany for the next three weeks.
* Une action en progression dans le futur interrompue par quelque chose
Dans les exemples suivants vous remarquerez que l’interruption est au présent simple ! En plus d’utiliser des actions courtes comme interruption, on peut utiliser un moment précis:
- I will be watching TV when he arrives tonight.
- Will you be waiting for him when his plane arrives tomorrow?
- When Tom gets home, they will not be sleeping (= they won’t be sleeping)
- She’ll be having a bath when I’m back home.
- I will be waiting for you when your bus arrives. (= I’ll be waiting)
- I will be staying at the Madison Hotel, if anything happens and you need to contact me.
- I’ll be watching TV when my mother arrives.
* Des actions parallèles au futur
On utilise deux fois le futur progressif pour décrire deux actions qui se passeront en même temps au futur. Les actions se passeront en parallèle.
- Later on, I will be watching TV and he will be studying.
- Tomorrow night, they will be drinking beer, listening to music, and having a good time.
- Next week he will be flying for India, and I will be flying for Thailand.
* Pour faire des hypothèses au présent
- He won’t be coming at the party. He is probably still working at the restaurant.
- She will be getting home at this time.
- Sarah will be getting married very soon.
- Tom will be working now (= I think Tom is working now, but I’m not 100% sure).
* Pour poser des questions poliment sur le futur
Il s’agit d’une manière très polie de poser des questions, avec tact, peut-être pour demander quelque chose indirectement:
- When will you be arriving in Sydney?
- Will you be taking your car to the party?
- Will you be using your computer tonight? I have to check something on internet.
- Will you be going to the bakery? I need to buy some bread.
3/ Notes
On peut aussi utiliser ‘be + going to be + v. ing’ à la place de ‘will be + v. ing‘
be + going to be + ing
- He is going to be working at the pub on saturday night.
- Is she going to be working at the pub on saturday night?
- She is not going to be working at the pub on saturday night.
Les deux phrases sont correctes mais leur sens est différent:
- I will be eating lunch at 11am => Je commencerai avant 11 h et je serais peut-être toujours en train de manger à cette heure là.
- I will eat lunch at 11am => Je commencerais à déjeuner à 11h pile.
Comme tous les temps futur, le futur progressif ne peut pas être utilisé avec des expressions de temps comme when, while, before, after, by the time, as soon as, if, unless, etc. Au lieu d’utiliser le futur progressif, utilisez le present continu.
- While Phil
will be driving, Tina will be sleeping in the car. - While Phil is driving, Tina will be sleeping in the car.
Les verbes non progressifs ne peuvent pas être utilisés avec le futur progressif.
be / want / seem / cost / need / care / contain / exist / belong / own / like / love / hate / fear / envy
- Kat
will be beingat my house tonight.
- Kat will be at my house tonight.
- It
will be costinga lot of money to fix the car. - It will cost a lot of money to fix the car.
Attention à la place des adverbes tels que always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc. au futur progressif:
- He will still be watching TV when she goes to bed.
- Will you still be watching TV when she goes to bed?
Dans les exemples suivants les deux phrases expriment une situation quasiment identique, ce n’est pas grave si vous utilisez un autre temps que le futur progressif:
- I’ll be leaving in a few minutes.
- = I’m leaving in a few minutes.
- = I’ll leave in a few minutes.
- = I’m going to leave in a few minutes.
- = I leave in a few minutes.
- Matt will come soon.
- = Matt will be coming soon.
On utilise pas vraiment la forme passive au futur progressif:
- At 10pm tonight, Carl will be using his laptop. (Active)
- At 10pm tonight, the laptop will be being used by Carl. (Passive)
