Using the Future Perfect

The Future Perfect

 We use the Future Perfect to tell us something will be finished at a time before a later moment.

–  The students will have finished their exam by 3.00pm

The exam starts at 12.30pm, it is a two hour exam.

– We have a breakdown on a machine.

When it is repaired will you have worked more than 12 hours?

In June 2016 Joseph and Maria will have been married for 50 years

They got married in 1966, now it is 2015. They have been married for 49 years now. But next year they will have been married for 50 years

Future Perfect is frequently used with these type of Time Expressions:

by:  Friday / next week / the summer / 2020 etc (by + a future point in time)

in: three months / two weeks’ time etc (in + a period of time starting from now)

Compare with Future Continuous here

Test the difference between Future Perfect and Future Continuous

Basics of PERFECT verb forms:

They tell us something about an action, series of events or a situation that happened before a certain time

  • -All perfect verb forms are formed with have + past participle (and verb+ ing if in continuous form)

Present Perfect                             – I have finished my homework

Present Perfect Continuous  – He has been washing the car

Past Perfect                                    – He had arrived before the meeting started

Past Perfect Continuous          – They had been watching a football match before the storm

Future Perfect                               – Mary will have finished the report by Friday

Future Perfect Continuous     – You should stop in 5 minutes, you will have been walking for three hours

 

If we want to speak English well, understand English well, write English well it is necessary to find out how to understand English grammar. How we use English verb forms (tenses) is essential to developing good communication in English. It isn’t necessary to be absolutely grammatically correct to speak English fluently, but it helps

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