Simple or continuous form

Question

Hello,I am not sure about two sentences, if it would be correct to put them in the simple form instead of the continuous form:1) By the time I'm 35, I will drive an expensive sports carBy the time I'm 35, I will be driving an expensive sports car2) By the time I'm 35, I will still live in the same cityBy the time I'm 35, I will still be living in the same city.I know that the continuous form sounds better and is more appropriate but is the other one grammatically uncorrect? Thank you

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

All of them are grammatically correct, but not all are idiomatic.

1) By the time I'm 35, I will drive an expensive sports car. Unidiomatic.
By the time I'm 35, I will be driving an expensive sports car. OK.

2) By the time I'm 35, I will still live in the same city. Unidiomatic.
By the time I'm 35, I will still be living in the same city. Unidiomatic.

With a "by the time" clause, you need a main clause that expresses some kind of situation that is a change. Simply continuing to live in the same place isn't enough of a change to make sense with "by the time". The words "still" and "same" don't belong in the second pair of sentences. However, you could say: By the time I'm 35, I'll be living in a much bigger city. (But, as with those above, the non-continuous form is unidiomatic, though grammatical.)

CJ

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