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I have studied a lot about future continuous and I have some doubts which I hope you can dispel. For example my concern is that people state that we use future continuous to show that some action will be ongoing during some time. Now we could say " I will be working tomorrow afternoon" to show that during that time I will be in the middle of this activity on the other hand natives told that saying something like " when I grow up I will be working" is not idiomatic. I don't really understand this concept that something is ongoing. I can show that something is ongoing during the afternoon but not during adulthood. Why is that? Could you give some broader explanation about a ongoing activity?

Bob
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  • Thanks, this is much clearer than your previous question. Note, you could also have edited even a closed question and it can be reopened. – Andy Bonner Feb 07 '24 at 21:35
  • Those natives were wrong. When I grow up, I will be working. is ok but would usually contain more works. When I grow up, I will be working with them, for example. – Lambie Feb 08 '24 at 01:19

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"Ongoing" doesn't mean it lasts a long time. It means the verb's action continues while some other event happens, or continues through some span of time.

"I will be working tomorrow afternoon" without any further qualification means you're working continuously for the whole afternoon (or the afternoon shift). It might be used if you're working at one point if that point is specified: "I will be working tomorrow afternoon when you arrive." In the latter case the work is ongoing during another event when you arrive. For comparison "I will do it tomorrow afternoon" means at one point in the afternoon; "I will be doing it tomorrow afternoon" means all afternoon; "I will be doing it tomorrow afternoon when you arrive" means I'll be doing it at the moment you arrive.

"When I grow up" is a particular set phrase which means something like "after I become an adult" (not "for my entire adult life"), and because it has this sense of "after", it's not appropriate to use the continuous because it's not ongoing while you grow up. Similarly "when I get married" often means "after I am married", although it can mean "on my wedding day". You'd say "When I get married I will stay home and cook for my husband". "When" is ambiguous and can refer to a point in time or an interval or a relationship of cause and effect.

Stuart F
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  • Unless it's from a speaker of Indian English, "I'll be cooking dinner every night when we get married" sounds resentful / resigned, whereas "I'll cook dinner every night when we get married" is more likely to reflect sincere / enthusiastic commitment. You've covered a lot here, but there's still lots more! I wouldn't even know how to articulate the difference between contracted *'ll* and *I will* in those examples, (formal/informal is a very crude distinction, usually not relevant). – FumbleFingers Feb 07 '24 at 23:42
  • Ok, thank you so much for providing answers. Stuart you said "Ongoing" doesn't mean it lasts a long time. It means the verb's action continues while some other event happens, or continues through some span of time." First use is obvious to me sentences like " I will be working while she is cooking" are quite easy to me. I don't get the second "continuous through some span of time". Can I say " I will be working during next 7 months" two show as you said " continuous through some span of time"? If not provide some answers if you have free time and feel like helping me. – Bob Feb 08 '24 at 07:00