Category: Class

FOR AND DURING

FOR + period of time
* to talk about the duration of the action

We watched the series for six hours last weekend.
Martha is traveling for two weeks in December.
We haven’t seen each other for ages!
Are you going to the beach for the weekend?

DURING + noun
* to say when the action occurs (not how long)

He fell asleep during his economics class.
I made some new friends during my holiday in Hawaii.
His car is not here anymore. He must have left during the night.

* never use during to talk about duration

Incorrect: She practiced during a week without stopping.
Correct: She practiced for a week without stopping.

Incorrect: I’ve been working for this company during 15 years.
Correct: I’ve been working for this company for 15 years.

IN and DURING
* use in or during with time expressions such as the morning, the afternoon, the summer

He must have left in the morning. ( = during the morning)
She’ll call you sometime during the afternoon. ( = in the afternoon)

DURING AND WHILE

SIMPLE PAST OR PRESENT PERFECT

* for new or recent actions:

I‘ve lost my phone. Have you seen it? = I lost my phone. Have you seen it?

I‘ve just arrived home. = I just arrived home.

* for something that is now

I‘ve forgotten your name. What is it again? = I forgot your name.

* for new information

Have you heard the news? Sarah has won the lottery! = Sarah won the lottery!

There has been an accident. = There was an accident.

PRESENT PERFECT NOT SIMPLE PAST

* for a period of time that continues up to present

It hasn’t rained all summer. (if it is still summer time)

SIMPLE PAST NOT PRESENT PERFECT

* for finished time

It didn’t rain all summer. (if summer is finished already)

Did you dream about being famous when you were a child?

* for information that’s not new or recent

Picasso was a genius. He painted many classic works of art.

* for when the situation is different now

He stopped traveling for a while, but now he’s traveling again.

FORM

will have been + verb’s present participle (base + ing)

=> will have been doing

Positive and Negative:

I will have been doing

I won’t have been doing

You will have been doing
You won’t have been doing

He/She/It will have been doing
He/She/It won’t have been doing

We/They will have been doing
We/They won’t have been doing

Interrogative and Negative Interrogative:

Will I have been doing?
Won’t I have been doing?

Will you have been doing?
Won’t you have been doing?

Will he/she/it have been doing?
Won’t he/she/it have been doing?

Will we/they have been doing?
Won’t we/they have been doing?

USE

Future perfect continuous is used when talking about actions that will continue up until a specific time in the future.

Moreover, it is used to project forward in time and look back at how long an action has been happening. The action will have started in a time in the past, present, or future, and is expected to continue in the future.

Examples:

His mother-in-law and Kara will have been waiting for him here for three hours by six o’clock.
By 2019, his family will have been living in Dubai for two years.
When the students finish this course, they will have been learning English for fifteen years.
Next year, Anne will have been working at Google for five years.
When the train arrives at 8:00, will you have been waiting for too long?

Remember:

Non-action verbs such as to be, to seem, or to know cannot be used in the continuous/progressive tense. Instead, the future perfect tense (will have + past participle) is used.

Examples:

Incorrect: In December, I will have been knowing you for a year.
Correct: In December, I will have known you for a year.

Incorrect: She will have been reading thirty novels by the end of the year.
Correct: She will have read thirty novels by the end of the year.

USE WHEN OR WHILE

When and while function as subordinating conjunctions and is used to introduce an adverbial time clause. It indicates during the time that and shows the action is or was happening when the other action occurred:

• The phone rang when / while she was doing the laundry.
  
• When / While she was doing the laundry, the phone rang.

Similarly, as and whilst are used in the same way. As and whilst’s tone is rather more formal or literary.

• As the car drove away, I watched him leave.
  
• I watched him leave whilst the car drove away.

During is a preposition that introduces a longer duration. It is used with either a noun or a noun phrase:

• I learned how to cook paella during my stay to Spain.
  
• I learned how to cook paella while I was staying in Spain.

ONLY USE WHEN

When is used and not while, when trying to express that the action happens simultaneously as the longer one or the event that is referred to in the main clause:

• He was surprised when Martin told him he got promoted.
  
• He was still sleeping deeply when his alarm went off.

Moreover, when and not while is used to express that one action happens subsequently after another and to talk about duration in the past.

• When it started raining, everyone hurried home.
  
• When she was a little girl, rainy days were very often but that was just for several weeks.

Instead of using when, we can use whenever to mean every time that:

• I always turn off the light when I leave the room.
  
• I always turn off the light whenever I leave the room.

ONLY USE WHILE

We often use while when talking about the longer action of two events or when talking about two longer actions that occur at the same time:

• Martin called while Kara was at work.
  
• While they were planning the next project, the other team was brainstorming.
  
• Linda cleaned the room while Margaret watered the flowers.

Keep in mind that even though we usually use a progressive tense, it is also possible to use simple tenses to talk about longer action involving a while time clause.

Furthermore, if the main and subordinate clauses have the same subject, you may leave out the subject and verb be in the when- and while-clause:

• When (you are) studying, be very focused.
  
• He bumped into an old friend while (he was) sightseeing in Milan.

USE WHILE TO SHOW CONTRASTING IDEAS

We do not only use while to introduce an adverbial time clause. It is often used more formally to connect or balance contrasting ideas:

• While they are upset about the bad news, they don’t want to show it.
  
• While they have been happily married so far, there will definitely be moments when they must prepare for tough times.

In the examples above, the while-clause is usually placed first of the two contrasting ideas.

MEANWHILE MEANS “DURING THIS TIME”

Meanwhile or during this time, is a linking adverb which is used to link and contrast ideas between two sentences. It is used to express that two events are happening simultaneously:

• Prepare the marinade. Meanwhile, mise en place all the other ingredients.
  
• Do your homework. Meanwhile, I’ll prepare some snacks.

A WHILE = A SHORT TIME

In cases when while are used as a noun, almost always, it is used with an indefinite article:

• I haven’t read a book for a while. What have I been doing?
  
• Let’s just stay here a little while longer. It’s so relaxing here.

FORM

Positive and Negative

I will have done
I won’t have done

You will have done
You won’t have done

He/She/It will have done
He/She/It won’t have done

We/They will have done
We/They won’t have done

Questions

Will I have done?
Won’t I have done?

Will you have done?
Won’t you have done?

Will he/she/it have done?
Won’t he/she/it have done?

Will we/they have done?
Won’t we/they have done?

USE      

• Future perfect is used when talking about an action that will that will be completed between now and a specified point in the future.

This time next week, she will have graduated from the university.

Common phrases used together with Future Perfect:

By April, she will have been 18.
This time next week, she will have left the country.
In two years’ time, they will have been together for 15 years.
When she leaves, he’ll have cleaned the house.
By the time Ronald get to school, his classmates will probably have waited a long time.

• Future Perfect is also used to predict about events in the future that will be complete before a specified time in the future.

Do they think he will have stolen all her money?
No, they won’t have broken that!