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Which sentence is correct:

  1. I will have been doing my homework since 4 o'clock tomorrow.
  2. I will have been doing my homework from 4 o'clock tomorrow.

What I mean to say is I'm going to do my homework tomorrow and I want to mention the starting point as well, which is 4 o'clock. Are there any better ways to express this idea?

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  • Why make the sentence so complicated? Why not say "I will begin my homework at 4.00 tomorrow"? You could say something like "By 6.00 I will have been doing my homework for two hours" if you particularly want to mention a later time. Commented Oct 25, 2021 at 16:27
  • "Future Perfect Continuous" I will have been doing isn't correct for your context. But if in fact you intend to start doing your homework at 4 o'clock, you could reasonably say By 6 o'clock tomorrow, I will have been doing my homework for 2 hours (assuming you expect to continue doing homework until at least then). Commented Oct 25, 2021 at 16:36
  • Most native American English speakers would say, "I'll start my homework tomorrow at four o'clock." Simple future tense is all you need. Commented Oct 25, 2021 at 16:42
  • What is your goal with this question? Are you (1) trying to express this idea about doing your homework, or (2) trying to learn the grammar for future perfect with a start time also in the future, but before the time of the sentence? Please edit your question to clarify
    – gotube
    Commented Oct 27, 2021 at 19:49
  • @gotube, it's both. I'm trying to learn more about future perfect continuous and whether it's possible to use it with 'since' to mention a starting point in the future, which is before the time of the sentence. Also, I wanted to explore if there are other, more natural ways to express the idea.
    – Sov
    Commented Oct 28, 2021 at 8:50

1 Answer 1

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As Kate suggests, you are making this too hard. Most grammar is simple!

I will do my homework at 4 o'clock tomorrow.

Just simple future.

But, if you want to say that is the starting point... okay:

I will start my homework at 4 o'clock tomorrow.

Again: simple future tense. You can contract "I will" to "I'll" (and you should do so, at least in spoken English)

Your suggestion (I will have been doing...) is unnatural. It's not grammatically incorrect but would never be used.

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  • Thank you for your explanation. Actually, I don't think I've seen or heard Present Perfect Continuous used that much, if ever. Is it correct to assume that this tense is not commonly used?
    – Sov
    Commented Oct 26, 2021 at 17:30
  • It is rare.....
    – James K
    Commented Oct 26, 2021 at 21:12

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