How to Form the Future Tenses of English Verbs in Theses and Dissertations

How to Form the Future Tenses of English Verbs in Theses and Dissertations

Clear and accurate verb usage is one of the defining features of polished academic writing. In postgraduate work—especially theses and dissertations—future tenses are used far more frequently than many candidates realise. Researchers use future forms to describe planned methodology, anticipated results, expected implications, upcoming research activity, future phases of analysis, projected contributions and even the structure of the thesis itself.

For multilingual authors, forming and selecting the correct future tense can be challenging. English does not have a single “future tense” but four core future forms, each expressing a different nuance of time, duration, intention or completion. This guide expands the traditional grammatical explanation into a detailed, research-focused resource designed specifically for thesis and dissertation writers. All uppercase verb forms are for clarity only; such capitals should not appear in your final academic work.

1. The Future Simple

The future simple is formed with will + base verb. It is the most common future form in academic writing.

1.1 Forming statements

• The researcher WILL COLLECT the final set of data next month.
• The software WILL ANALYSE the recordings automatically.
• This chapter WILL EXAMINE the implications for future studies.

The future simple expresses:

• future decisions made at the moment of writing (“I WILL REVISE this section”).
• predictions based on logical expectation (“The findings WILL SUPPORT the hypothesis”).
• future facts (“The experiment WILL REQUIRE sterile conditions”).
• willingness or offers (“The author WILL PROVIDE additional appendices”).

1.2 Forming negatives

Add not between the auxiliary and the main verb:

• The participants WILL NOT RETURN results before Tuesday.
• The system WILL NOT STORE sensitive data.

Avoid contractions (“won’t”) in formal academic writing.

1.3 Forming questions

Swap the subject and the auxiliary:

• WILL the survey INCLUDE demographic items?
• WILL the researcher ADDRESS ethical concerns?

1.4 Academic contexts where the future simple is essential

The future simple is commonly found in:

• Methods chapters: “The study WILL USE a mixed-methods approach.”
• Research proposals: “The project WILL INVESTIGATE the long-term impact.”
• Discussion chapters: “These trends WILL INFLUENCE policy design.”
• Future research sections: “Future studies WILL EXAMINE larger samples.”

Because the future simple often appears alongside hedging verbs (“may”, “might”, “could”), mastering tone control is key to producing balanced academic predictions.

2. The Future Continuous

The future continuous (also called future progressive) is formed with will + be + present participle. It describes an action that will be in progress at a specific future time.

2.1 Forming statements

• The team WILL BE COLLECTING data throughout June.
• The participants WILL BE COMPLETING the second questionnaire tomorrow afternoon.
• During this stage, the algorithm WILL BE PROCESSING the full dataset.

2.2 Forming negatives

• The committee WILL NOT BE MEETING during the holiday period.

2.3 Forming questions

• WILL the researcher BE INTERVIEWING participants next week?

2.4 Academic uses of the future continuous

This tense highlights ongoing future activity. It is invaluable when describing:

• sustained data collection: “The sensors WILL BE RECORDING temperature changes every hour.”
• scheduled academic activity: “The review board WILL BE EVALUATING submissions across July.”
• future conditions that continue for a duration: “The model WILL BE RUNNING in the background while the variables stabilise.”

It is also helpful for projecting workflow stages in a Gantt chart or methodology timeline.

3. The Future Perfect

The future perfect is formed with will + have + past participle. It describes an action that will be completed before a specific time or event in the future.

3.1 Forming statements

• The research team WILL HAVE COMPLETED the preliminary analysis by September.
• The participants WILL HAVE RETURNED all surveys before Phase Two begins.
• The algorithm WILL HAVE IDENTIFIED all anomalies by the end of the cycle.

3.2 Forming negatives

• The researcher WILL NOT HAVE SUBMITTED the chapter before Monday.

3.3 Forming questions

• WILL the team HAVE REPLICATED the experiment before the conference?

3.4 Academic uses of the future perfect

This tense is essential when describing:

• deadlines: “By this date, the system WILL HAVE GENERATED three full simulations.”
• sequences: “The enzyme WILL HAVE REACTED before the cooling phase begins.”
• research progress: “By the next meeting, the author WILL HAVE ANALYSED all interview transcripts.”

The future perfect conveys future completion with precision, making it ideal for project planning, ethics applications, and methodological scheduling.

4. The Future Perfect Continuous

The future perfect continuous is formed with will + have + been + present participle. It expresses an action that will continue up to a specific future moment.

4.1 Forming statements

• By the time the results emerge, the system WILL HAVE BEEN RUNNING for 48 hours.
• The participants WILL HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING the training protocol for six weeks.
• By next March, the researcher WILL HAVE BEEN ANALYSING the dataset for over a year.

4.2 Forming negatives

• The students WILL NOT HAVE BEEN WORKING on the project long enough to measure retention.

4.3 Forming questions

• WILL the laboratory HAVE BEEN MONITORING the reaction continuously?

4.4 Academic uses of the future perfect continuous

This tense emphasises duration leading up to a future point. It is especially useful when describing long-term processes:

• Extended trials: “By Phase Three, participants WILL HAVE BEEN USING the device for nine months.”
• Longitudinal research: “The team WILL HAVE BEEN OBSERVING the cohort since 2020.”
• Continuous monitoring: “The network WILL HAVE BEEN TRACKING activity for several days before the threshold is reached.”

This tense is less common than the others, but its precision can strengthen descriptions of long-running scholarly activity.

5. The Occasional Use of “Shall”

Although will dominates modern English, shall remains acceptable—especially in formal, legal, contractual or institutional documents. It appears most often with the subjects I and we.

• I SHALL PRESENT the findings at the symposium.
• We SHALL HAVE COMPLETED the calibration before the demonstration.

In most dissertations, will is safer and more conventional, but shall may appear in disciplines such as law, theology, philosophy and history.

6. Choosing the Correct Future Tense in Academic Contexts

When selecting the right future form, consider:

• Is the action ongoing? → future continuous
• Will the action finish before another future point? → future perfect
• Does the action continue until a future moment? → future perfect continuous
• Is the focus simply on the future moment? → future simple

Each tense communicates a different temporal logic. Choosing carefully avoids ambiguity and conveys scholarly precision.

7. Extended Examples in Thesis and Dissertation Writing

7.1 Methods chapters

• “The study WILL USE three data-collection instruments.” (simple)
• “The laboratory WILL BE OPERATING at reduced capacity during maintenance.” (continuous)
• “The team WILL HAVE COMPLETED calibration prior to launching the first trial.” (perfect)
• “By the end of Phase Three, the sensors WILL HAVE BEEN RECORDING activity continuously.” (perfect continuous)

7.2 Results chapters (forecasting expected outcomes)

• “The intervention WILL PRODUCE measurable improvements.”
• “Participants WILL BE DEMONSTRATING increased retention by Week Three.”
• “The model WILL HAVE IDENTIFIED latent patterns before validation begins.”

7.3 Discussion chapters

• “These findings WILL SUPPORT previous theories of bilingual processing.”
• “Future adopters WILL BE BENEFITING from simplified procedures.”
• “By integrating these principles, researchers WILL HAVE ESTABLISHED a more robust analytical framework.”

7.4 Future research sections

• “Further studies WILL EXAMINE long-term retention.”
• “Researchers WILL BE INVESTIGATING larger and more diverse samples.”
• “By then, the field WILL HAVE BEEN TRACKING these developments for decades.”

7.5 Literature review projections

• “Emerging research suggests that multilingual corpora WILL PROVIDE new insights.”
• “Over the next decade, scholars WILL BE REEVALUATING the role of affect in language acquisition.”

7.6 Limitations and implications

• “The limited sample size WILL IMPACT generalisability.”
• “Policy makers WILL BE USING these data to inform future curriculum reforms.”

8. Final Thoughts

The future tenses of English allow researchers to communicate planning, prediction, sequencing, deadlines and duration with clarity and confidence. By understanding and applying the future simple, future continuous, future perfect and future perfect continuous, you strengthen the precision, tone and professionalism of your thesis or dissertation.

Mastery of these structures not only improves your grammar but also enhances your academic presentation—helping supervisors, examiners and readers understand exactly what will happen, when it will happen and how your research will unfold over time.