Future perfect in Italian (futuro anteriore)

The Italian future perfect (futuro anteriore) is a compound tense that belongs to the indicative mood.

Definition and usage of the Italian future perfect (futuro anteriore)

The futuro anteriore is used to refer to an action that will take place in the future, usually before another action introduced by the futuro semplice.

Example:

• Quando Martin arriverà alla fermata, il pullman sarà già partito (When Martin will arrive at the bus stop, the bus will have already left)
• Fra due anni avrò imparato lo spagnolo (In two years I will have learned Spanish)

In everyday language there is a tendency to use the futuro semplice instead of the futuro anteriore.
E.g. Quando Giorgio arriverà, potremo pranzare (When Giorgio comes, we will have lunch)
Quando inizierà il film, bisognerà fare silenzio (When the film starts, we will have to be silent)

The futuro anteriore can also be used to make suggestions or hypothesis about an action that took place in the past (futuro epistemico).
Example:

• Le luci della casa sono accese: avranno dimenticato di spegnerle (The house lights are on: they must have forgotten to turn them off)
• Luisa non è venuta al cinema: sarà stata impegnata (Luisa didn't come to the cinema: she must have been busy)

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Marker words that indicate the futuro anteriore

Here are some marker words that can be found with the futuro anteriore.

Example:

• Dopo che avrò chiamato il dottore, potrò uscire (After I will have called the doctor, I will leave the house)
• Non appena saranno arrivati a Madeira, ci chiameranno (As soon as they will have arrived in Madeira, they will call us)

Conjugation of the futuro anteriore

The italian futuro anteriore is formed as follows:

Futuro semplice of the auxiliary verb essere/avere + participio passato of the main verb

Conjugation of regular verbs in the futuro anteriore

Regular verbs form the futuro anteriore as follows:

Verbs that belong to the -are conjugation

Example giocare (to play)

Verbs that belong to the -ere conjugation

Example credere (to believe)

Verbs that belong to the -ire conjugation

Example dormire (to sleep)

Conjugation of irregular verbs in the futuro anteriore

Here are some verbs that form the futuro anteriore in an irregular way. Such verbs have to be studied by heart.

Auxiliary verbs: essere/avere

The auxiliary verbs essere and avere form the futuro anteriore as follows:

*Remember that when you use the auxiliary verb essere, the participio passato must agree with the subject in gender and number!

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