Future Perfect
The Future Perfect (will have + past participle) describes an action that will be completed before a specific point in the future. It is often used with time markers such as "by", "by the time", "before" and "in + time".
Form: will have + past participle
To make the Future Perfect, use will have followed by the past participle of the main verb. The form stays the same for every subject, so there is no need to change the verb for he, she or it. For questions, put will before the subject; for negatives, use will not (won't) have.
- •By June, she will have graduated from university.
- •They will have finished the project before the deadline.
- •Will you have completed the report by tomorrow?
- •We won't have received the results by then.
Use: completed before a future time
We use the Future Perfect for an action that will be finished before another moment or event in the future. It looks forward to a future point and then looks back at something already done at that time. This lets us talk about progress and deadlines with confidence.
- •By the time you arrive, I will have cooked dinner.
- •In three years, he will have paid off his loan.
- •Before the meeting starts, we will have prepared the slides.
- •By Friday I will have finished the whole course.
Signal words and Future Perfect Continuous
Common signals for the Future Perfect are by, by the time, before and in + a time expression, which mark the future limit. To stress the duration of an activity up to a future point, use the Future Perfect Continuous: will have been + verb-ing. It emphasises how long an action has been in progress rather than its completion.
- •By 2030, technology will have changed enormously.
- •By the time she retires, she will have been teaching for thirty years.
- •Next month, we will have been living here for a decade.
- •By midnight, they will have been travelling for twelve hours.