The Future Perfect Tense
I will have passed my driving test by this time next year.
If you heard someone saying this sentence you would understand that they had not passed their driving test yet, but were hoping to do so by this time next year.
The action they are referring to is something that will take place in the future and will finish or be completed by a certain time in the future. The tense can also be used to talk about something that has recently taken place.
This tense is known as the Future Perfect tense.
We use this tense in English to show that something will finish, conclude or be perfected in the future. But how do we form this tense?
The way that we structure a sentence using the future perfect tense is with the help of the auxiliary verbs will and have, which are the simple future of the verb ‘to have’, in addition to the past participle of the main verb:
subject + will + have + past participle
Some examples of this would be:
By 2021 he will have been teaching for twenty years.
Their train will have arrived by now.
She will have asked her boss for a pay rise by this time next week.
If you want to create a negative sentence in this tense you need to use the word 'not', positioning it in between the words 'will' and 'have'. For example:
She will not have asked her boss for a pay rise by this time next week.
To ask a question using the future present tense you need to swap the position of the subject and the word 'will'. Don't forget that all important question mark.
will + subject + have + past participle + ?
Will she have asked her boss for a pay rise by this time next week?
An important tip to remember about this tense is that it is not a continuous action and that the event or situation we are talking about will end at a specific time in the future.
Can you think of any further examples using the future perfect tense? If so type them into the comments below so that I can review them for you.
Before you go, let’s do one final recap on the future perfect tense. Here is a short video I made for you explaining how we would use the tense in everyday situations. I hope you enjoy it.
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