Published at February 17, 2025

Course on the Future Perfect - TOEIC® Preparation

TOP-Students™

The future perfect in English is a tense that allows you to project into the future and describe an action or state that will be already completed at a specific moment in the future.

It is essential to master this form to express precisely the moment when an action will be completed. This course provides a comprehensive overview of the functioning of the future perfect, its uses, its formation, and its different nuances.

How to form the future perfect in English?

The basic form of the future perfect is: will have + past participle

Here is a table summarizing how to form the future perfect in English:

Form	Structure	Examples
Affirmative form	Subject + will + have + past participle	I will have completed the report by tomorrow. They will have left the country by the end of the year. She will have arrived in London by 8 p.m.
Negative form	Subject + will not + have + past participle	I will not have finished the test before 2 p.m. They won't have reached the station by then. He won't have completed his shift until later tonight.
Interrogative form	Will + subject + have + past participle ?	Will you have left the office by 6 p.m.? Will they have accomplished their goals by the end of the quarter? Will she have finished her homework before dinner?

The future perfect to talk about an action completed at a specific moment in the future

The future perfect is mainly used to indicate that an action will be completely finished before a specific moment in the future (an hour, a date, or an event).

Certain keywords are frequently used with the future perfect like by, by the time, before, in, when, etc.

By the time you wake up, I will have prepared breakfast.
They will have finished building the new bridge by December.
We will have visited five countries by the end of our trip.

Here, the idea is that, when we reach this future moment (December, the end of the trip, etc.), the action of "building", "visiting", "preparing" will already be completely finished.

The future perfect to talk about a forecast or projection on a completed future state

The future perfect is often used to make a projection or prediction regarding a completed result in the future, often accompanied by an element of certainty or logic.

By this time next year, the company will have doubled its revenue.
After all their efforts, they will have surpassed their competitors.
In 10 years, most people will have adopted electric cars.

The future perfect to talk about an action considered completed in the future before another action or moment

The future perfect is also used to show that one thing will be finished before another begins in the future. It is often used with the expression by the time to compare two moments in the future.

By the time I get home, you will have finished cooking.
They will have completed the training by the time the project starts.
By the time we arrive at the theater, the show will have started.

The future perfect to express a deduction or assumption about something (already) past at the present moment

It's unlikely to see this in the TOEIC®, but it can happen that the future perfect is used to express a hypothesis or assumption about a past event when it is very likely that something has already happened.

Don't worry, they will have arrived by now.
She will have finished the meeting, so you can call her.
They will have sent the email, so check your inbox.

Even in this last usage, we talk about an action considered completed in the past (relative to the moment we speak), the use of the future perfect in English emphasizes the certainty or high probability that the event is accomplished.

Simple future or future perfect, which to choose?

The simple future (will + base verb) expresses an action that will happen in the future, without emphasizing that it will be completed before a specific moment.

I will finish the report tomorrow.

The future perfect (will have + past participle) emphasizes the completed nature of the action before a given moment in the future.

By tomorrow, I will have finished the report.

Future continuous or future perfect, which to choose?

The future continuous (will be + V-ing) emphasizes the duration or the unfolding of an action at a given moment in the future.

This time next week, I will be traveling in Japan.

The future perfect emphasizes that the action will be completed (finished).

By this time next week, I will have traveled to Japan.

Present perfect or future perfect, which to choose?

The present perfect (have + past participle) allows talking about an action completed in the past whose impact or consequences are visible in the present.

I have finished my homework.

The future perfect (will have + past participle) allows talking about an action that will be completed in the future (by then, it will already be done).

I will have finished my homework by 8 p.m.

Conclusion

The future perfect in English allows talking about an action that will be completed before a certain moment in the future. It is constructed with will have + past participle and is often used with time indicators like « by » or « by the time ». It is particularly useful for specifying that at the moment we reach a certain future point, the action we are talking about will no longer be ongoing, but already finalized.

The future perfect is a common future form in English and in the TOEIC®. But there are other future forms that you must also master, here are the courses on the other future forms: