Future Perfect Tense
Level Seven
Lesson 71
The future perfect tense is one of the most difficult verb tenses to use. In this lesson, you will learn how to form and use the future perfect tense and the future perfect continuous tense.
Here are some examples of how this tense is used:
- By the end of this lesson, I hope you will have learned how to use the future perfect tense.
- Within the next ten years, we hope we will have found the cures for certain types of cancer.
- Most of my students will have graduated from high school by the time I retire from teaching.
future perfect tense
71a. future perfect tense
The future perfect tense uses this formula:
will + have + past participle
The main verb is in the form of a past participle.
singular
I will have finished
You will have finished
He will have finished
She will have finished
It will have finished
plural
We will have finished
You will have finished
They will have finished
finish / finished / finished / finishing
71a. future perfect tense
When we use the future perfect tense, we speculate on the completion of an activity in the future.
- The parents of this baby hope that he will have learned to walk within the next year.
- She hopes that within the next two years, she will have completed her college degree.
71b. By this time next year...
To use the future perfect tense, identify a time in the future and then consider an action or a situation that will be completed before that time arrives. An easy way to do that is to use, “by the time….” or “by this time next (unit of time)…”
- By this time next year, I will have lived in Minnesota for 36 years. (I’ve been here for 35 years and don’t plan on moving.)
- It’s April and construction on the road has just begun. Before the end of summer, we hope the construction project will have been completed. (Notice that this sentence is in the passive voice.)
- We’re late. The movie will have already started by the time we get to the movie theater.
71b. By this time next year...
- They will have been married for five years by this time next year. (Right now, they are celebrating their fourth year of marriage.)
- By the time the war ends, military strategists will have learned new ways to use drones in combat.
71c. future perfect tense - negative
To make the negative, just add “not” to “will” to form will not or won’t.
singular
I will not have earned
You will not have earned
He will not have earned
She will not have earned
It will not have earned
plural
We will not have earned
You will not have earned
They will not have earned
Example: If you don’t take enough classes this year, you will not have earned the credits necessary to graduate next year.
71c. future perfect tense - negative
- It’s possible this man will not have survived all of the surgery he needs in the upcoming few months.
71d. future perfect tense - questions
To make a question in the future perfect tense, use will + not + have and the main verb is in the form of a past participle.
singular
Will I have worked
Will you have worked
Will have have worked
Will she have worked
Will it have worked
plural
Will we have worked
Will you have worked
Will they have worked
Example: Will he have worked enough hours by the end of the year to qualify for benefits?
71d. future perfect tense - questions
- In the future, will we ever have discovered the origin of the universe?
71e. future perfect continuous tense
Use the future perfect continuous tense for actions that are continuous and completed in the future. This is the hardest tense to use correctly, plus it sounds awkward, so it’s not a popular choice for future activities. There are four parts to this verb tense: will + have + been + _____ing.
singular
I will have been working
You will have been working
He will have been working
She will have been working
It will have been working
plural
We will have been working
You will have been working
They will have been working
Example: By the year 2028, I will have been working as a teacher for 40 years.
71e. future perfect continuous tense
- By 4:00, the food in this pot will have been cooking for three hours. It will need to cook for another two hours after that.