Future Perfect Tense (with Examples)

Future Perfect Tense (with Examples)

The future perfect tense is used to describe an action that will have been completed at some point in the future. It is often used with a time expression which identifies that point in the future.

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.)
Of course, you can also have the negative version, which is formed "will not have" + "[past particple]":
  • 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.
And the question versions:
  • Will you have finished the meal and the speeches by the time I arrive?
  • Will you have read every magazine in the waiting room before you see the dentist?

Forming the Future Perfect Tense

Here is an infographic explaining the future perfect tense:



Other Future Tenses

The future perfect tense is one of four future tenses. They are:

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 Also

Tenses 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 tense
Future perfect progressive tense