Future Perfect Simple
The Future Perfect Simple is used to describe actions that will be completed before a certain future point. It is formed with 'will have' + past participle.
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Future Perfect Simple
The future perfect is restricted to a small number of contexts, but those contexts are worth knowing. Its formation is set out below.
The future perfect combines the future simple of 'have' (will have) with the past participle. Regular participles are formed by adding '-ed' to the verb, so 'play' becomes 'played'.
This is the affirmative:
| Affirmative | Contracted Affirmative |
|---|---|
| I will have finished this book | I'll have finished this book |
| You will have studied the English tenses | You'll have studied the English tenses |
| He will have arrived | He'll have arrived |
| She will have cooked dinner | She'll have cooked dinner |
| It will have stopped raining | It'll have stopped raining |
| We will have met Marina | We'll have met Marina |
| They will have left Japan | They'll have left Japan |
This is the negative:
| Negative | Contracted Negative |
|---|---|
| I will not have finished this book | I won't have finished this book |
| You will not have studied the English tenses | You won't have studied the English tenses |
| He will not have arrived | He won't have arrived |
| She will not have cooked dinner | She won't have cooked dinner |
| We will not have met Marina | We won't have met Marina |
| It will not have stopped raining | It won't have stopped raining |
| They will not have left Japan | They won't have left Japan |
Questions place 'will' in front of the subject:
| Yes/No Questions |
|---|
| will I have finished writing this book? |
| will you have studied all the English verb tenses? |
| will he have got married? |
| will she have graduated? |
| will it have got colder? |
| will we have met your boyfriend? |
| will they have left their jobs? |
In 'wh' questions, the question word precedes 'will':
| Wh Questions | |
|---|---|
| When will I have finished writing this book? | |
| Why will you have studied all the English verb tenses by tomorrow? | |
| Why will he have got married before June? | |
| When will she have been here three weeks? | |
| Why will it have got colder by May? | |
| How will we have met your boyfriend by tonight? | |
| When will they have left their jobs? |
Uses of the future perfect simple
1. The future perfect expresses how long an action has lasted when it begins before, and continues up to, another action or time in the future. 'For' is normally required. The future perfect continuous is also possible in this context, which is why the simple form tends to be reserved for stative verbs. After 'when', the present simple is used.
- When we get married, I'll have known Emil for four years.
- At 4 o'clock, I'll have been in this office for 24 hours.
2. The present perfect is sometimes possible in the same context, but the future perfect is preferred because it allows the period to be expressed as a round figure.
- I've lived here for 11 months and three weeks. (This is correct, but the time is not an easy number.)
- On Tuesday, I will have lived here for one year. (A much easier number.)
3. With a future time expression, and frequently with 'by', the future perfect refers to an action that will be complete before a given point in the future, without specifying exactly when.
- By 10 o'clock, I will have finished my homework. (= I will finish my homework some time before 10, but we don't know exactly when.)
- By the time I'm sixty, I will have retired. (= I will retire sometime before I'm sixty. Maybe when I'm fifty-nine, maybe when I'm fifty-two.)