Learn the definition, rules, structure, examples, and exercises of future perfect tense in English.
Future Perfect Tense
Use the future perfect when you want to refer to a future action, state, or event that will be completed by a specific time in the future.
- FUTURE ACTION: By next week, she will have completed the course.
- FUTURE STATE: In 2025, we will have known each other for twenty years.
- FUTURE EVENT: The ship will have sunk by then.
The future perfect consists of the modal auxiliary verb will, the auxiliary verb have, and the perfect/passive form of the main verb. The perfect/passive verb form is used to indicate either the perfect aspect or the passive voice. The perfect/passive form for regular verbs consists of the base form of the verb and the ending -ed.
| Singular | Plural | |
| First Person | I will have verb + ed | we will have verb + ed |
| Second Person | you will have verb + ed | you will have verb + ed |
| Third Person | he, she, it will have verb + ed | they will have verb + ed |
When a one-syllable word or a word with a stressed final syllable ends in a single consonant sound, double the last letter before adding -ed.
- One-syllable word: flip ➞ flipped
- Word ending in a stressed syllable: refer ➞ referred
- BUT bow ➞ bowed [This word ends in a vowel sound.]
Forming Negatives
To make a future perfect verb negative, place “not” after “will.”
- will not have gone
Forming Contractions
Contractions are often formed by combining pronouns and the auxiliary verb will or by combining the auxiliary verb will and not. You will often hear these contractions in conversation or see them in informal writing, but you will rarely find them used in formal contexts.
Remember that an apostrophe indicates that at least one letter is omitted and that the letter i in will changes to o in the negative contraction won’t.
| I’ll have moved | I won’t have moved |
| You’ll have moved | You won’t have moved |
| He’ll have moved | He won’t have moved |
| She’ll have moved | She won’t have moved |
| It’ll have moved | It won’t have moved |
| We’ll have moved | We won’t have moved |
| They’ll have moved | They won’t have moved |
Forming yes-or-no Questions
To form yes/no questions, begin the question with the auxiliary verb will, followed by the subject, have, and the perfect/passive form of the main verb.
- Statement: You will have completed your coursework by May.
- Yes/no question: Will you have completed your coursework by May?
Forming Wh-Questions
In wh-questions, when the question word is the subject of the sentence, the form of the question is similar to the form of a statement.
- Statement: Bruce will have resigned by the time the scandal appears in newspapers.
- Wh-question: Who will have resigned by the time the scandal appears in newspapers?
When the question word is any other part of the sentence, the auxiliary verb will come after the question word, followed by the auxiliary verb have, the subject, and the perfect/passive form of the main verb.
- Statement: By the time you’re fifty years old, you will have worked at the firm for twenty-five years.
- Wh-question: How long will you have worked for the firm by the time you’re fifty years old?
Future Perfect Tense Exercises
Exercise-1
Complete each sentence with the future perfect form of the verb in parentheses.
1. By the time you arrive, most guests ————— (leave).
2. I ————— (write) the report by the time you get here.
3. By 10:00 A.M., all the participants ————— (introduce) themselves.
4. By the time they reach Sydney, they ————— (fly) four thousand miles.
5. We ————— (eat) dinner by the time they get here.
Exercise-2
Make each sentence negative. Be sure to use the subject and the future perfect form of the verb provided.
EXAMPLE: admit
By the time he’s ninety years old, he still will not have admitted his mistake.
1. You, rest
————— ————— before you meet the chair of the committee.
2. They, eat
By the end of the fast, they ————— for twenty-four hours.
3. We, finish
————— ————— our lunch by the time she arrives.
4. Mark, sleep
————— ————— much before he makes his presentation.
5. She, save
————— ————— enough money for college by the time classes begin.
Exercise-3
Use the pronoun and verb given to create a sentence that contains a contraction. If not is also given, use a negative contraction.
EXAMPLE: It, change
By next year, it’ll have changed.
1. They, complete
By the time the director arrives, ————— ————— the report.
2. He, finish, not
By the time I return, ————— ————— the work.
3. You, recover
By the end of May, ————— ————— completely.
4. They, make, not
————— ————— much progress without our help.
5. She, give
————— ————— the job to someone else by the time my application arrives.
Exercise-4
Rewrite the following statements as yes/no questions.
EXAMPLE: They will have discussed the issue by the time we arrive.
Will they have discussed the issue by the time we arrive?
1. The landscape will have changed by the time he’s an adult.
2. By July 11, we will have made our decision.
3. By the time you start your new job, you will have finished your degree.
4. By the time we get home, he will have called already.
5. When we get to the movie theater, the movie will have started already.
Exercise-5
Complete the following questions based on the statements provided.
EXAMPLE: She will have received her results by the time she leaves our office.
When will she have received her results?
1. By the end of the season, Nat will have become the record holder.
By the end of the season, who ————— —————
2. She will have lived in Moscow three months when her family arrives.
How long ————— —————————— —————
3. By the time he’s thirty, Andy will have run sixteen marathons.
By the time he’s thirty, how many marathons ————— —————
4. By the time it is built, they will have spent more than a million dollars.
By the time it is built, how much ————— —————————— ———
5. When his new book comes out, he will have written ten novels.
When his new book comes out, how many novels ————— —————
Future Perfect
Future Perfect Worksheet
