Future Perfect: Form, Uses and Examples
The future perfect looks back from a point in the future: by Friday, I will have finished the report. Here is how to form it, when to use it, and how it differs from other future forms.
By LearnLingo Team · Updated
Form
| Type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | subject + will have + past participle | I will have finished by six. |
| Negative | subject + won't have + past participle | They won't have arrived yet. |
| Question | Will + subject + have + past participle? | Will you have finished by six? |
| Short answers | Yes, subject + will. No, subject + won't. | Will she have left? Yes, she will. No, she won't. |
The form is the same for every person: I, you, he, she, it, we and they will have done. In speech, will have is usually I'll have or I'll've, and won't have is common. Won't = will not.
| Type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | subject + will have been + -ing | In June, I will have been working here for ten years. |
| Negative | subject + won't have been + -ing | She won't have been waiting long. |
| Question | Will + subject + have been + -ing? | How long will you have been living here by then? |
Like other continuous forms, it is not normally used with state verbs such as know, own or believe. Say By May, I'll have known her for a year, not I'll have been knowing her.
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| by + time | at or before that time | By Monday, I'll have read the book. |
| by the time + present simple | before that future moment | By the time you arrive, we'll have eaten. |
| by then | before that time | Come back in July. By then, we will have finished the work. |
| before + time | earlier than | We'll have moved before Christmas. |
| in + period | after that much time from now | In two years, I'll have saved enough for a car. |
| for + period | duration up to the future point | By June, we'll have been married for twenty years. |
After by the time, before, when and until, use the present simple, not will: By the time she gets home, not By the time she will get home.
How to make the future perfect
The future perfect has three parts: will + have + past participle. Will never changes, and have never changes to has, even with he, she and it: She will have finished, not She will has finished.
The past participle is the same form as in the present perfect: finished, gone, written, eaten. Check irregular verbs when you are not sure. In negatives, put not after will: I won't have finished. In questions, put will before the subject: Will you have finished?
I will have finished my exams by the end of May.
She won't have heard the news yet.
Will the builders have finished before winter?
They'll have spent all their money by Friday.
Completed before a time in the future
The main use of the future perfect is to say that an action will be complete before a certain moment in the future. Imagine standing at that future moment and looking back: the action is already done.
This is why the future perfect almost always comes with a time expression, especially by + a time (by tomorrow, by 2030, by the end of the year) or by the time + a clause. By means at that time or earlier, not exactly at that time.
Compare: At 8 p.m., I'll eat dinner (I start at eight) and By 8 p.m., I'll have eaten dinner (dinner is finished before eight).
By the time you get this message, I will have left the country.
In ten years, scientists will have found a cure, I hope.
Don't call at nine. The kids won't have gone to bed yet.
By 2035, the population of the city will have doubled.
Duration up to a future point
We use the future perfect to say how long something will have lasted at a point in the future. With state verbs like be, know, have and live (as a long situation), use the simple future perfect: Next month, we will have been married for ten years.
With action verbs, the future perfect continuous (will have been + -ing) is more natural when we focus on the activity continuing: By the time I retire, I will have been working for forty years. It is often used with for + a period of time. This form is not very common, but it is useful for anniversaries and milestones.
In September, I will have lived in Berlin for five years.
When we land, we will have been flying for fourteen hours.
By then, she will have been studying English for three years.
Next year, the company will have been in business for a century.
Assumptions about now or the past
Will have + past participle can also make a confident guess about something that has probably already happened, now or in the past. This is like modals of deduction: it means I am fairly sure that... It is more common in British English.
It's six o'clock, so Dad will have left the office (I'm sure he has left). Don't phone her now; she won't have woken up yet. In American English, people more often say must have or has probably left. See modal perfects for more ways to guess about the past.
You will have heard the news, I'm sure.
A confident guess, not a future action.
The parcel will have arrived by now.
Don't worry, they won't have forgotten about you.
Future perfect or other future forms?
Choose the form by asking where you are standing in time. The simple future (will do) describes the action at a future time. The future continuous (will be doing) describes an action in progress at that time. The future perfect (will have done) describes an action finished before that time.
At 10 a.m. tomorrow, I will be taking my driving test (in the middle of it). By 11 a.m., I will have taken it (it is over). I will tell you the result at lunch (a simple future event). For plans and intentions, see will vs going to.
This time tomorrow, I'll be lying on a beach.
Future continuous: in progress.
By this time tomorrow, I'll have arrived in Bali.
Future perfect: complete before then.
When you come, I'll make dinner.
Simple future: dinner starts when you come.
When you come, I'll have made dinner.
Dinner is ready before you come.
In real life
In everyday speech, the future perfect is common in planning, deadlines and work: I'll have sent it by end of day. It is also popular for encouragement and milestones: By the end of this course, you'll have learned five hundred new words.
You will hear contractions such as I'll have and won't have, and in fast speech the have is reduced to a weak ⁄əv⁄ sound. People often use it with a question about deadlines: Will you have finished it by Thursday?
Don't worry, I'll have sent the report by end of day.
Will you have finished with the car by six? I need it tonight.
By the end of the month, we'll have paid off the loan.
Hurry up, the film will have started by the time we get there.
Common mistakes
By next year, she will has finished university.
By next year, she will have finished university.
After will, always use the base form have, even with he, she and it.
By the time you will arrive, we will have eaten.
By the time you arrive, we will have eaten.
After time words like by the time, when and before, English uses the present simple for the future, not will.
I will have finish the work by Friday.
I will have finished the work by Friday.
The future perfect needs the past participle (finished), not the base verb.
Until 2030, I will have saved enough money.
By 2030, I will have saved enough money.
By means at or before a time and fits completed actions. Until means continuing up to a time and does not normally go with the future perfect.
By the time we land, we will have been knowing each other for a day.
By the time we land, we will have known each other for a day.
Know is a state verb, so it does not take the continuous form. Use the simple future perfect.
Practice quiz
10 questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why.
1. By the end of this week, I ___ all the boxes.
2. By the time you ___, I'll have cooked dinner.
3. Choose the correct sentence.
4. In June, we ___ here for ten years.
5. What does By 9 p.m., the shop will have closed mean?
6. It's 7 p.m. Her flight landed at five, so she ___ home by now.
7. This time tomorrow, I ___ my exam, so please don't call.
8. ___ you have finished the report by Monday?
9. Choose the correct sentence.
10. Hurry! The train ___ by the time we get to the station.
0 of 10 answered
Show all answers
- will have unpacked
- arrive
- He will have left by noon.
- will have been living
- The shop will be closed at or before 9 p.m.
- will have arrived
- will be taking
- Will
- By 2030, I will have known him for ten years.
- will have left
See what the B2 English course covers, or test your level first.
People also ask
When do we use the future perfect?+
We use it for an action that will be finished before a specific time in the future (By Friday, I'll have finished) and to say how long something will have lasted at a future point. In British English it is also used for confident guesses about the present, as in He'll have arrived by now.
What is the difference between the future perfect and the future perfect continuous?+
The future perfect focuses on a completed result: I'll have written three chapters. The future perfect continuous focuses on the activity and its duration: I'll have been writing for six hours.
Is the future perfect common in spoken English?+
It is less common than will or going to, but you hear it regularly with deadlines, plans and milestones, usually contracted to I'll have. It is important in formal writing and in B2 and C1 exams.
Why do we use by and not until with the future perfect?+
By means at that time or earlier, which matches an action that is complete. Until describes a situation that continues up to a time, so it goes better with the future simple: I'll wait until six.
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