What Is the Future Perfect Tense?
- John will have baked a cake.
- They will have painted the fence.
- John will have baked a cake before you arrive.
- They will have painted the fence before I have a chance to speak to them.
Table of Contents
- Examples of the Future Perfect Tense
- Forming the Future Perfect Tense
- Interactive Verb Conjugation Tables
- Video Lesson
- Test Time!

Examples of the Future Perfect Tense
Here are some examples of the future perfect tense (shaded):- By the time you arrive, we will have finished the meal and the speeches. (Note: "By the time you arrive" identifies the point in the future.)
- I will have read every magazine in the waiting room before I see the dentist. (Note: The clause "before I see the dentist" identifies the point in the future.)
- I hope that, when I leave this planet, I will have touched a few people in a positive way. (Actor Will Rothhaar) (Note: The clause "when I leave this planet" identifies the point in the future.)
Forming the Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect tense is formed:[subject]
+ "will have"
+ [past participle]
- I will have completed my assignment by 3 o'clock.
- After this event, Simon will have walked over 10,000 miles in those boots.
Forming the Past Participle (Regular Verbs)
If it's a regular verb, the past participle is the same as the simple past tense. In other words, it is formed like this:Add "ed" to most verbs:
- jump > jumped
- paint > painted
- chat > chatted
- stop > stopped
- sew > sewed
- play > played
- fix > fixed
- incur > incurred
- prefer > preferred
- open > opened
- enter > entered
- swallow > swallowed
- thrive > thrived
- guzzle > guzzled
- cry > cried
- fry > fried
Forming the Past Participle (Irregular Verbs)
If it's an irregular verb, the "past participle" is formed in all sorts of different ways. Here are some examples:- arise > arisen
- catch > caught
- choose > chosen
- know > known
The Negative Version
If you need the negative version, you can use the following construction:[subject]
+ "will not have"
+ [past participle]
- By the time you arrive, we will not have finished the meal and the speeches.
- I will not have read every magazine in the waiting room before I see the dentist.
The Question Version
If you need to ask a question, you can use the following word order for a yes/no question:"will"
+ [subject]
+ "have"
+ [past participle]
- By the time you arrive, will we have finished the meal and the speeches?
- Will I have read every magazine in the waiting room before I see the dentist?
[question word]
+ "will"
+ [subject]
+ "have"
+ [past participle]
- Where will the guests have gathered by the time we arrive?
- When will I have done enough work to make her happy?
Interactive Verb Conjugation Tables
The tables below show all 12 tenses so you can see the future perfect tense among the other tenses. (You can change the verb by clicking one of the green buttons.)Top 10 Regular Verbs
Top 10 Irregular Verbs
All 4 Past Tenses
Person | Simple Past | Past Progressive Tense | Past Perfect Tense | Past Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.
|
The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.
|
The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.
|
The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.
|
All 4 Present Tenses
Person | Simple Present | Present Progressive Tense | Present Perfect Tense | Present Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.
|
The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.
|
The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)
|
The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).
|
All 4 Future Tenses
Person | Simple Future | Future Progressive Tense | Future Perfect Tense | Future Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.
|
The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.
|
The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.
|
The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.
|
Video Lesson
video lessonAre you a visual learner? Do you prefer video to text? Here is a list of all our grammar videos.
Other Future Tenses
The future perfect tense is one of four future tenses. This table shows all four of the future tenses:The 4 Future Tenses | Example |
---|---|
simple future tense | I will go |
future progressive tense | I will be going |
future perfect tense | I will have gone |
future perfect progressive | I will have been going |
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See all the tenses
What is a verb phrase?
Simple past tense
Past progressive tense
Past perfect tense
Past perfect progressive tense
Simple present tense
Present progressive tense
Present perfect tense
Present perfect progressive tense
Simple future tense
Future progressive tense
Future perfect progressive tense
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