Future Perfect Tense

The future perfect is used to describe an event that is expected or planned to happen before another event in the future. It is a grammatical combination of the future tense, or other marking of future time, and the perfect, itself a combination of tense and aspect. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_perfect)

Future Perfect Tense has two different forms, will have done and be going to have done. Not like the Simple Future forms, the Future Perfect Tense forms are used interchangeably. Both forms have a little or no difference in meaning.

The Pattern

1. will have done

Affirmative

Subject + will + have + Verb3 (past participle)

Negative

Subject + will + not + have + Verb3 (past participle)

Interrogative

Will + Subject +have + Verb3 (past participle)

2. be going to have done

Affirmative

Subject + be (am, is, are) going to + have + Verb3 (past participle)

Negative

Subject + be (am, is, are) + not + going to + have + Verb3 (past participle)

Interrogative

Be (am, is, are) + Subject + going to + have + Verb3 (past participle)

The time signals usually used with the Future Perfect Tense among others are for 3 hours by…, by 10 a.m., by July, by the time, etc.

The Uses

The Future Perfect Tense is used to express a completed action before another action in the future. The action will have finished before another action happens or at a specific time in the future. We may use the duration or not.

Examples:

  • The farmers will have harvested the crops by July.
  • They will have been in New York for 7 years by the time they are back to Jakarta next moth.
  • Tomy will have read the novel for 3 hours by 5 p.m.
  • I will have received my salary by the end of this month.
  • She is not going to have finished all the housework by 10 a.m.
  • Will you have mastered English well before you move to London next month?
  • The secretary probably will have finished typing the documents by the time her boss comes.
  • How many articles are you going to have written by the end of this week?
  • You will have perfected your English by the time you come back from London.

Note:

There are parts of the examples, the bold typed, as the reference point, which are stated in Simple Present Tense, not in Simple Future. This is as the interruptions are in the form of time clauses (the clauses begin with when, while, before, after, by the time, as soon as, etc) and Simple Future can not be used in time clauses.

Check the 16 English Tenses you want to study more below!

Present

Past

Future

Past Future

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Filed under: English Course (Grammar)

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