0
Paul Evdokimov Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

The future perf. cont. vs the future cont.

Hi there,

Here is an exercise from Hewings' Advanced grammar in use':

"Underline the correct option:
I suppose by now school wil have closed for Christmas and you will be enjoying/will have been enjoying a rest."

What's wrong with 'will have been enjoying' in this sentence? As far as I'm concerned, both the future continuous and the future perfect continuous can be used to say what we believe is happening around now. The difference, as it seems to me, is that 'will have been enjoying' denotes that someone started to enjoy the rest some time ago and is enjoying it at the moment.

Thanks for your comments in advance.
  

Top answer

In my view "will have been enjoying" is not such a good fit with "by now".

  • In my view "will have been enjoying" is not such a good fit with "by now".
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

3 Answers
0
In my view "will have been enjoying" is not such a good fit with "by now".
0
Paul Evdokimovand you will be enjoying/will have been enjoying a rest
...(by now) you are sure to be enjoying a rest/...(by now) you will have been enjoying a rest for (e.g.) two days.
0
Paul EvdokimovWhat's wrong with 'will have been enjoying' in this sentence?
I don't see anything grammatically incorrect about it. I think most natives would choose "will be enjoying", however. Maybe it's just that we prefer simpler tenses to more complicated ones when either will do to get the general idea across.
Paul EvdokimovThe d

Related Questions