Step 68: By 2030…
Future milestones — Future perfect and future continuous
📖 Read — Emma's Letter to the Future
Emma is writing a letter to her future self. “Dear Emma of 2030,” she writes. “By the time you read this, you will have graduated from college. You will have moved to Boston, and you will have published your first novel. This time in 2030, you will be living near the ocean, and you will be writing your second book.”
She smiles and adds: “Next June, don't call me at nine — I'll be driving to the mountains with Tom. By 2030, we will have been friends for twenty years! Some things change. The good ones keep going.” She seals the letter. The future is just around the corner.
🧩 Grammar — Future Perfect and Future Continuous
Two lenses on the future: the future perfect (will have + participle) looks BACK from a future point at something completed: By 2030, I will have graduated. It loves by + time (by Friday, by 2030, by the time…). The future continuous (will be + -ing) films an action IN PROGRESS at a future moment: This time tomorrow, I'll be flying to Boston. Don't call at nine — I'll be driving.
- By next year, she will have finished her degree.
- At midnight tonight, we will still be traveling.
- By the time you arrive, I will have cooked dinner.
- This time next week, I'll be sitting on a beach in Hawaii.
🏗️ Key structures
- By ___, I will have ___ — By June, I will have saved $1,000.
- This time tomorrow, I'll be ___-ing — This time tomorrow, I'll be flying to Seattle.
- By the time ___, ___ will have ___ — By the time he's 30, he will have visited 20 states.
⭐ Idiom & natural phrases
Graduation is just around the corner!
🔤 New words
an important event or stage in someone's life or a project
Turning 18 is a big milestone.
the official result you get when you finish college
She earned a degree in biology.
stop working at the end of your career, usually around 65
My grandfather will retire next year.
finish something completely
They completed the bridge in May.
start something big and new (a product, a rocket, a company)
The company will launch its app in June.
say what you think will happen in the future
Experts predict warmer summers.
a new thing that someone made for the first time
The smartphone is a famous invention.
all the people born around the same time (parents, children…)
The new generation learns everything online.
🎧 Say it with me
By 2030, I will have finished college, and this time next year, I’ll be living in a new city. The future is just around the corner!
🎤 Your turn to speak
Tell your future: two things you will have done by a future year, and one thing you'll be doing at a specific moment next week.
Say it out loud three times. Even better: record it on your phone and listen — your ear is your best teacher.
✍️ Your turn to write
Write a short letter to your future self (5 sentences). Use the future perfect twice and the future continuous twice.
See a model answer
Dear Future Me, By the time you read this, you will have earned your degree. You will have traveled to ten new cities. This time in 2030, you will be working in a job you love, and you'll be teaching your kids English. Don't forget this: you'll have become braver than you ever imagined.
Self-check: capital letters? Full stops? Did you use the grammar of this step?
📝 Quick check
Go deeper
This step is a doorway — the full lesson goes much further:
Future Continuous & Future Perfect — full lesson + 50-question quiz
🎉 Saved in your progress!