Future perfect tense in English

This chapter will discuss the English future perfect tense. The future perfect tense in English is used to refer to an action that is completed in the future.

Structure of the English future perfect tense

The future perfect tense is formed using the auxiliary verb 'will' with the auxiliary verb 'to have' and the past participle of the main verb. 

will + have + past participle

Examples:

• The event will have finished at 12 o'clock.
• The teacher will have explained chapter 9 by the end of the class. 

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How to form of the future perfect tense

How the future perfect tense is formed, depends on whether the sentence is:

1. Affirmative: expresses the truth of a certain assertion.
2. Negative: expresses the falsity of a certain assertion. 
3. Interrogative: expresses a question.

1. Affirmatives

Structure: Subject + will + have + past participle + the rest of the sentence. 

Examples:

• He will have arrived by this time tomorrow.
• She will have started on her report by the end of this class. 

2. Negatives

Structure: Subject + will not + have + past participle + the rest of the sentence.

Examples:

• They will not have seen each other for one year.
• After tomorrow, you will not have worked for one week.

3. Interrogatives

Structure: Will + subject + have + past participle + the rest of the sentence + question mark

Examples:

• Will she have finished her report on time?
• Will they have lunch before we meet them?

Usage of the future perfect 

The perfect future tense in English is used to express two types of situations refering to events in the future. 

Test your knowledge of the future perfect with the exercises below!