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Future Perfect

The Future Perfect is not a tense but a structure made of combining other structures together. It is often described as a combination of the modal verb Will and the Present Perfect but becuase Will is a modal verb it must always be followed by an infinitive. Have does not change as it would do in the present perfect. 


The negative is formed on Will not Have


Subject + Will + Have + Participle + Object

Subject + Will not/Won't + Have + Participle + Object

Will + Subject + Have + Participle + Object?


It is possible to use Shall instead of Will when in more formal situations. For more information on Shall/We click here


It is worth remembering that we can contract Will to 'll and it is very common in speaking for native speakers to also contract Have so you may hear 'll've but do not use it in your writing!

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Function


The Future Perfect is used to talk about actions or activities that will be completed between now and a moment in the future.


By ten o'clock tonight, I will have finished my essay


Your plane will have landed before we eat breakfast tomorrow


English grammar often revolves around a point of narrative. For the Future Perfect there are two points to consider, the moment of speaking in the present and a moment in the future being referenced. The Future Perfect action happens between those two points.  


Specifying that second point of time is vital to using the Future Perfect, if you do not make a reference to a specific moment in the future or one has not been established in context then the "Future Simple" Will + Infinitive is more appropriate

Related Topics


Future forms

The Fundamental future forms in Englsh

Will, be going to & the present continuous

Future actions & intentions

Predictions about the future


Future Expressions

Expressions to talk about the future:

Be to

Be due to

Be about to/Be on the point of


Future Perfect continuous

To emphasise the duration of an action or activity ongoing at a specific moment in the future

Duration of a future activity

Looking into the past from the future


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