Grammar
Future perfect: form and practical use
By the time the doors open, the technicians will have checked every microphone. The checking happens in the future, but it finishes before another future event: the doors opening.
Use will have plus a past participle to show that an action will be complete before a stated future time or event.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
By Friday, we will have finished the project. /baɪ ˈfraɪ.deɪ wiː wɪl həv ˈfɪn.ɪʃt ðə ˈprɒdʒ.ekt/
The short answer
Use the future perfect for a result that will be complete before a future reference point. Make it with will have plus a past participle: By noon, I will have completed the report.
By the end of the month, Dara will have paid the final invoice.
Why it works: The payment will be complete before the month ends. Will have paid points to that finished result.
5 more examples
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By Friday, we will have sent the contracts to the client.
Friday is the deadline. The contracts will be sent before that day ends.
Not this:We
will sendthe contracts on Friday. What changes: The simple future places the sending on Friday. The future perfect says it will already be complete by Friday. -
By the time you arrive, I will have prepared dinner.
Preparing dinner finishes before the later event of your arrival.
Not this:When you arrive, I
will be preparingdinner. What changes: The future continuous shows preparation in progress at your arrival. The future perfect shows it finished before then. -
In July, Mei will have worked at the hospital for five years.
The period from Mei's starting date to July will total five years.
Not this:In July, Mei
will be workingat the hospital. What changes: Will be working describes an activity in progress in July. Will have worked measures a period completed by July. -
The museum will not have reopened before the holiday begins.
The negative says that reopening will still be incomplete at the start of the holiday.
Not this:The museum
will not reopenduring the holiday. What changes: The simple future denies an event during the holiday. The future perfect sets a deadline before the holiday begins. -
Will the engineers have solved the fault before the broadcast?
The question asks whether the repair will be complete before the broadcast starts.
Not this:
Will the engineers solvethe fault during the broadcast? What changes: This asks whether the action will happen during the broadcast. The future perfect asks whether it will be complete earlier.
Read the full guide
Find the later future point first. It may be a deadline such as by Friday, a time such as by 6 p.m., or an event such as when the guests arrive. Then ask whether the other action will already be finished at that point. If it will, the future perfect is a useful choice.
Set a future finish line
Use the future perfect when one future action is finished before another future point. The reference point can be a clock time, a date, a deadline, or a later event. By gives a limit: the action can happen at any earlier time, but it must be complete no later than that point.
By 6 p.m., the team will have submitted the proposal.
The submission may happen before 6 p.m.; the sentence says only that it will be complete by then.
By the time the film starts, we will have found our seats.
Finding seats comes first. The film starting is the later future reference point.
Which action is complete first: finding the seats or the film starting?
Finding the seats is complete first. Will have found marks that earlier completed action.
Build the verb phrase accurately
The form has three parts: will, have, and a past participle. Will does not change with the subject, so the same pattern works with I, she, and they. The final verb must be a past participle, not a past simple form unless the two forms are the same.
She will have written the summary by tomorrow morning.
Written is the past participle of write. Wrote is past simple, so she will have wrote is not correct.
They will have completed the training by May.
Completed is a regular past participle and follows will have.
Complete the sentence: 'By Tuesday, he will have ___ the email.' Choose wrote or written.
Use written. After will have, use the past participle.
Use by, before, and time clauses
Use by with a future limit, as in by Thursday or by the end of the year. Use before when you name the later action directly. Use by the time when a complete clause gives that later point. In these time clauses, use present simple for the future event.
Before the guests arrive, we will have cleared the tables.
Arrive is present simple in the time clause, even though the guests will arrive in the future.
By the time the office closes, I will have backed up the files.
The backup is complete before the future closing time.
Choose the natural time clause: 'By the time he arrives' or 'By the time he will arrive'?
Use By the time he arrives. Ordinary future time clauses use a present form after by the time.
Ask questions and make negatives
Put will before the subject to ask whether something will be complete by a future point. Put not after will to say that completion will not happen before that point. The rest of the verb phrase stays in the same order.
Will you have finished the application before the deadline?
Will comes before you because the sentence is a question. Have finished stays together after the subject.
We will not have heard the decision by noon.
Will not have heard means that the expected news will still be missing at noon.
Put these words in order: have / will / they / arrived / by then?
Write, 'Will they have arrived by then?' Put will first, then the subject, then have and the past participle.
Choose between future perfect and future continuous
Use the future perfect for completion before a future point. Use the future continuous when the activity is still happening at that point. The two forms can describe the same general plan, but they make different claims about its stage.
At 4 p.m., I will have finished the presentation.
The presentation is complete by 4 p.m.
At 4 p.m., I will be working on the presentation.
The work is in progress at 4 p.m., so it may not be complete yet.
Which form fits an unfinished task at 4 p.m.?
Use will be working. It describes an activity in progress at the future time.
Use it when completion matters
The future perfect is useful for plans, project milestones, travel arrangements, and periods of experience. It is not necessary for every future action. If no later reference point or completed result matters, the simple future is often clearer.
By next March, I will have saved enough for the course.
The sentence focuses on reaching the required amount before next March.
I will save money for the course next year.
This describes a future intention but does not promise that a target amount will be reached by a particular time.
Do you need the future perfect when you only mean a general future intention?
No. Use the simple future when completion before a stated future point is not part of the meaning.
Before you go
Remember this
Use will have plus a past participle when a task, result, or period will be complete before a future point. Choose a clear reference point, check the past participle, and use the simple future or future continuous when completion before that point is not the meaning you need.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Future perfect: form and practical use"
What is the future perfect tense?
The future perfect shows that an action, result, or period will be complete before a future time or event. By Friday, we will have sent the contracts to the client means that the sending will be finished by Friday.
By Friday, we will have sent the contracts to the client.
How do I form the future perfect?
Use will have plus a past participle for every subject. Say She will have written the summary by tomorrow morning or They will have completed the training by May. Use written, not wrote, after will have.
We will send the contracts on Friday.
When should I use by with the future perfect?
Use by to name the latest time when an action must be complete. By Friday, we will have sent the contracts to the client allows the sending to happen earlier, but it says the result will be complete no later than Friday.
By the time you arrive, I will have prepared dinner.
What is the difference between future perfect and future continuous?
Use the future perfect for completion before a future point and the future continuous for an activity in progress then. By the time you arrive, I will have prepared dinner means the meal is ready. When you arrive, I will be preparing dinner means the work is still happening.
When you arrive, I will be preparing dinner.
Do future time clauses use will?
After when, before, after, and by the time, use a present form in an ordinary future time clause. Before the guests arrive, we will have cleared the tables is correct. The future perfect belongs in the main clause, where it shows the earlier action is complete.
In July, Mei will have worked at the hospital for five years.