estará + Gerund

Futuro Contínuo

Level 5

The Futuro Contínuo (Future Continuous) combines the future of estar with a gerund (e.g., estará fazendo). It is used for actions that will be in progress at a specific future time or to guess what is happening right now.

How It Works

The estará + gerúndio construction serves two main purposes in Portuguese:

1. Future Progressivity: It emphasizes that an action will be ongoing at a certain point in the future. It is often used to set a background for another event.
Example: Quando você chegar, eu estarei dormindo. (When you arrive, I will be sleeping.)

2. Supposition/Probability: This tense is frequently used to express a guess or probability about a present action.
Example: Onde está o Pedro? Ele estará estudando agora. (Where is Pedro? He must be/is probably studying now.)

Regional Differences:

  • Brazilian Portuguese (BP): This is the standard way to express the future progressive. However, in casual speech, the synthetic form estará is often replaced by the periphrastic vai estar (e.g., ele vai estar estudando).
  • European Portuguese (EP): Speakers in Portugal use the construction estará a + infinitivo for both future progressivity and present probability (e.g., ele estará a estudar agora).

Stylistic Note: Avoid 'Gerundismo'—the unnecessary use of progressive future forms (like estará transferindo or vai estar transferindo) for near-future actions that are instantaneous rather than continuous (e.g., use transferirei or vou transferir instead).

Examples (4)

  1. Amanhã a esta hora, estarei voando para Lisboa.

    Tomorrow at this time, I will be flying to Lisbon.

    Word by Word: Tomorrow at this hour, [I] will-be flying to Lisbon.

    This shows a continuous action that will be in progress at a specific future moment.

  2. Não me ligue às oito; estarei jantando com a minha família.

    Don't call me at eight; I will be having dinner with my family.

    Word by Word: Not me call at-the eight; [I] will-be dining with the my family.

    The future continuous is used here to explain why a future interruption is inconvenient.

  3. O que ele estará fazendo agora?

    What might he be doing right now?

    Word by Word: The what he will-be doing now?

    Here, the future tense of 'estar' expresses probability or a question about a current action.

  4. A esta hora, o diretor já estará sabendo de tudo.

    By this time, the director must already know everything.

    Word by Word: At this hour, the director already will-be knowing of everything.

    This uses the future continuous to express a strong supposition about the present state of affairs.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the future continuous for instantaneous future actions (Gerundismo).

    Um minuto, eu vou estar transferindo a sua ligação.
    Um minuto, vou transferir a sua ligação.

    In Brazil, using a chain of verbs for a quick, non-continuous action is considered a stylistic error called 'gerundismo'. Use the simple future or 'ir + infinitive' instead.

  • Confusing the future continuous with the simple future.

    Amanhã eu estarei fazendo a prova às 9h (if the exam starts at 9h).
    Amanhã eu farei a prova às 9h.

    Use the simple future for the start of an event. Use the continuous only if you mean you will already be in the middle of the process at that time.

How It Connects

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estará + GerundLevel 5Futuro Contínuo

Learn This First

To understand the Future Progressive (estará + gerúndio), you need to know how to conjugate the verb 'estar' in the future tense and how to form the gerund (-ando, -endo, -indo) of the main verb. Familiarity with the basic progressive structure in the present tense is also highly recommended.

Words in This Pattern