I will work vs. I will be working (2025)

Dear all,

it seems that on Internet many people write something like "I will be working there for a couple of months". Now, I always thought that continuous tenses are not meant to express duration, but rather being "in the process" at a particular point in time. That is one may not say "I will be working tomorrow for 2 hours", but one may say "I will be working tomorrow at 2PM".
Is this correct or am I mistaking?

Thanks,
Igor.

Hi, according to your example you can say instead, in my opinion :

I will have been working tomorrow for 2 hours at ( a specific time )

chamyto said:

Hi, according to your example you can say instead, in my opinion :

I will have been working tomorrow for 2 hours at ( a specific time )

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I think you are complicating the matter by phrasing it thus. You are saying something completely different.
I will work tomorrow at 2pm or I will be working tomorrow at 2pm are both ok. So are I will work tomorrow for 2 hours or will be working for 2 hours.
I will be working there for a couple months = I am going to be working there for a couple months.
I can see how English must seem complicated to non-speakers, as putting the same words in different combinations can mean very different things.

Bobbum said:

I think you are complicating the matter by phrasing it thus. You are saying something completely different.
I will work tomorrow at 2pm or I will be working tomorrow at 2pm are both ok. So are I will work tomorrow for 2 hours or will be working for 2 hours.
I hope this helps.

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But my example is also correct , isn´t it ? Maybe this ( the fact of working tomorrow at a specific time ) has several interpretations depending on the speaker .

I think both are ok, 'I will be working' can be used to emphasize the specific time. The following example may be easier:

When you visit the cafe, I will be working there (for couple of months).

At a specific time i.e when you visit the cafe.

Bobbum said:

I will be working there for a couple months = I am going to be working there for a couple months.

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OK, now the things are getting clearer. I did not know that Future Continuous has the "I am going to" meaning.

ovlover said:

I think both are ok, 'I will be working' can be used to emphasize the specific time. The following example may be easier:

When you visit the cafe, I will be working there (for couple of months).

At a specific time i.e when you visit the cafe.

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Yes, this is a textbook example and I am perfectly fine with it. A specific time is clearly meant in this case.
However, sometimes it seems that people say "I will be working" without actually meaning a specific time.

hi, bolzano217

my guess :

I think 'will be doing' is used to announce one's future plan, making the plan sounds more established than 'be going to do', which makes the plan sound less committed to.

An established plan/decision doesn't necessarily mean a fixed time schedule(a specific time) for everyone.

Bobbum said:

I will work tomorrow for 2 hours or will be working for 2 hours.

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When would you use one or the other?

Ivan_I said:

When would you use one or the other?

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The future continuous is a verb tense that indicates that something will occur in the future and continue for an expected length of time. Another way to think of it is that the continuous tense is the situation, whereas the regular future tense is what will happen. Stative verbs are almost always regular future tense, while action verbs can be either regular future tense or future continuous, depending on if you are emphasizing the action for a period of time, or the state of working.

Without context, there really isn't much difference between "I will work" and "I' will be working", but for example:

"What are you doing tomorrow?"
"I think I'll go into work for a couple hours." - it's a decision your making now about what you've decided to do tomorrow.

"Mike's party starts at 5 o'clock tomorrow. Do you want to come?"
"I'll be working a couple hours, but I'll come afterwards." - emphasizing that you'll be doing this activity for this period of time, maybe in relation to the party.

ovlover said:

When you visit the cafe, I will be working there (for couple of months).

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If you say "for a couple of months", this sounds funny to me. It would have to be "When you visit the cafe, I will have been working there for a couple of months".