English grammar · Intermediate
Future Perfect Tense: Will Have Done, Uses, and Examples
The future perfect tense describes an action that will be complete before a particular point in the future. It is formed with will have plus a past participle (will have finished, will have left), and it almost always comes with a time expression that names the deadline: by Friday, by the time you arrive, in ten years. It also expresses confident assumptions about what has already happened (They'll have landed by now).
By this time next year, I will have finished my degree.
complete before a point in the future
What it is
The future perfect looks forward to a point in the future and then back from it. At that point, the action will already be finished: By six o'clock the meeting will have ended. The tense therefore needs two pieces of information, the deadline and the action, and the deadline is nearly always spelled out with by, by the time, or before. Without a deadline the sentence usually means something else or sounds incomplete.
The builders will have finished the roof by the end of the month. (Looking at the end of the month, the roof is done; exactly when in the month does not matter.)
How to spot it
Look for will have followed by a past participle, together with a deadline: by then, by 2030, by the time she gets here, before the deadline. If the sentence describes what will be in progress at that moment rather than what will be complete, it is the future continuous (will be doing) instead.
- I'll have left by the time you read this. (leaving is complete before the reading)
- By next June they will have been married for twenty years. (a duration measured up to a future point)
- Don't call now; she'll have gone to bed. (a confident assumption about the present)
- Will you have finished the report by Friday? (asking whether completion comes before the deadline)
Won't have can mean two things: not finished by the deadline (We won't have finished by six) or a negative assumption about the present (He won't have seen it yet). The context decides which.
Future Perfect Tense Quick Reference
The uses of the future perfect
| Use | Example | Typical words |
|---|---|---|
| Completion before a future point | The film will have started by the time we park. | by, by the time, before, by then |
| Duration up to a future point | In March I'll have worked here for ten years. | for, since, how long, by next year |
| Assumption about the present or recent past | They'll have landed by now. | by now, already, probably, surely |
| Looking back from a distant future viewpoint | In fifty years people will have forgotten this. | in X years, one day, eventually |
| Time clause with the present simple | By the time he arrives, we will have eaten. | by the time, when, before, until + present simple |
Common Future Perfect Tense Examples in English
Examples grouped by what the tense is doing, so you can see the deadline in each one:
Finished Before a Deadline
- By Friday I will have submitted all three essays.
- the deadline is Friday; submission comes first
- The paint will have dried by tomorrow morning.
- complete before a future moment
- She'll have left the office by the time you get there.
- her leaving comes before your arrival
- Will the shop have closed by seven?
- asking whether closing comes before seven
- We won't have finished the report before the meeting.
- completion not reached by the deadline
The action does not have to happen at the deadline; it only has to be complete by then. The essays may be submitted on Tuesday.
How Long by a Future Point
- Next month we'll have lived here for five years.
- a duration measured at a future date
- By the end of the tour, the band will have played forty concerts.
- a total reached at a future point
- In 2030 she will have taught for thirty years.
- for + duration, counted up to 2030
- By midnight I'll have been awake for twenty hours.
- the state continues up to the future moment
For and since work as they do in the present perfect, but the point they count up to is in the future rather than now.
Assumptions About Now
- It's ten o'clock; the kids will have gone to sleep.
- a confident guess about the present situation
- You'll have heard the news, I suppose.
- I assume you have already heard
- The parcel will have arrived by now.
- by now: the deadline is the present moment
- He won't have seen your message yet.
- a negative assumption about the present
Here will does not point to the future at all. It expresses certainty, and the perfect form places the event before now: will have arrived roughly equals has almost certainly arrived.
Looking Back From the Future
- In fifty years, most of these jobs will have disappeared.
- a change complete from a distant future viewpoint
- By the time the vaccine is ready, thousands will have caught the virus.
- future perfect in the main clause, present simple after by the time
- When you wake up tomorrow, the storm will have passed.
- when + present simple, then will have
- Before the decade ends, the last coal plant will have closed.
- before + present simple; completion in the main clause
The time clause after by the time, when, or before uses the present simple, never will. The future perfect appears only in the main clause.
How the Future Perfect Works
One fixed form, a required deadline, and a rule about the time clause.
Will Have Plus the Past Participle
The form never changes with the subject: will have for I, you, she, we, and they alike. The past participle is the third form of the verb (finished, written, gone, been), the same one used in the present perfect and past perfect. In speech will contracts to 'll (I'll have finished, they'll have gone) and have is pronounced weakly, but it is always written in full.
By then she will have written the whole book.
will have + written, the irregular participle of write
will have + third form.
Negatives and Questions Move Will
Not goes after will (will not have, won't have in speech), and questions put will in front of the subject: Will you have finished? Have and the participle stay where they are. There is no do anywhere in this tense.
Won't they have left by then? No, they won't have.
won't + have + left; the short answer keeps won't have
Will carries the negative and the inversion.
The Deadline Is Part of the Meaning
A future perfect sentence answers the question by when? So it almost always carries a time expression that marks the future point: by Friday, by the time you arrive, before the end of the year, in two hours' time, by then. Without it, the sentence tends to be understood as an assumption about the present (She'll have finished means I expect she has finished).
The train will have left by the time we reach the platform.
by the time introduces the deadline
Future perfect + by when.
Present Simple in the Time Clause
The clause that names the deadline (by the time, when, before, until, as soon as) takes the present simple even though it refers to the future. Will belongs in the main clause only. By the time you will arrive is a common learner error.
By the time the guests arrive, I'll have cleaned the kitchen.
arrive, not will arrive, in the time clause
Will in the main clause, present simple after by the time.
Certainty About the Past With Will Have
Because will expresses confidence as well as futurity, will have plus a participle can state what the speaker is sure has already happened: You'll have noticed the new sign. This is the same structure as the future perfect, and often the same words (by now marks the deadline as the present moment). Context tells you whether the deadline is ahead of now or is now.
Don't ring the bell; they'll have gone out.
a confident conclusion about the present
Will have = I'm sure it has happened.
Common Mistakes with Future Perfect Tense
Incorrect: By the time you will arrive, we will have eaten.
Correct: By the time you arrive, we will have eaten.
Time clauses introduced by by the time, when, before, and as soon as take the present simple even when they refer to the future. Will belongs only in the main clause.
Incorrect: I will have finish the project by Monday.
Correct: I will have finished the project by Monday.
After have the verb must be the past participle, not the base form. Have finish is not a form of English; the participle is what makes the tense perfect.
Incorrect: She will has finished by then.
Correct: She will have finished by then.
Have does not change after a modal. Will is followed by the bare infinitive have for every subject, including he, she, and it.
Incorrect: I will have called you tomorrow.
Correct: I will call you tomorrow.
The future perfect needs a deadline that the action is complete before. Tomorrow is when the call happens, not a point by which it is already over, so the future simple is the right tense. Use the future perfect only when you can add by.
Future Perfect Forms
The full forms with the regular verb finish and the irregular verb go. The form is the same for every subject, so the only work is the participle. In speech will contracts to 'll and will not to won't.
Regular verb: finish
A regular past participle is the same as the past simple: add -ed.
| Pronoun | Affirmative | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | will have finished | will not have finished | Will I have finished? |
| you | will have finished | will not have finished | Will you have finished? |
| he / she / it | will have finished | will not have finished | Will she have finished? |
| we | will have finished | will not have finished | Will we have finished? |
| they | will have finished | will not have finished | Will they have finished? |
Contractions: I'll have finished, she won't have finished. Short answers keep will have: Yes, I will have. No, she won't have.
Irregular verb: go
Irregular verbs use their own participle, which must be learned: go, went, gone.
| Pronoun | Affirmative | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | will have gone | will not have gone | Will I have gone? |
| you | will have gone | will not have gone | Will you have gone? |
| he / she / it | will have gone | will not have gone | Will he have gone? |
| we | will have gone | will not have gone | Will we have gone? |
| they | will have gone | will not have gone | Will they have gone? |
The most common irregular participles in this tense: gone, been, done, left, made, taken, seen, written, become, begun.
By, Until, and the Future Perfect Continuous
Two small words carry most of the tense's meaning, and a continuous form sits next to it for emphasis on duration.
By versus until
By names the deadline for a completed action and goes with the future perfect. Until names the point up to which a situation continues and goes with a simple or continuous form, or with a negative future perfect.
- I'll have finished by five.
- finished at some point before five
- I'll be here until five.
- present, then gone at five
- I won't have finished until five.
- not before five: negative future perfect + until
By the time is by plus a clause: by the time you arrive. Until can also take a clause: until you arrive.
The future perfect continuous (will have been doing)
To stress how long an activity will have been going on at a future point, use will have been plus the -ing form. It is common with for and since, and with verbs of activity rather than states.
- By June I'll have been working here for a year.
- the activity itself, measured to June
- By the time she retires, she will have been teaching for forty years.
- a long continuing activity
- At midnight they will have been driving for twelve hours.
- an activity still in progress at the future point
With for and a duration the simple form is also possible (I'll have worked here for a year); the continuous puts the weight on the activity rather than the total.
Quick Check: Future Perfect Tense
Put the verb in brackets into the future perfect, or choose the right tense where two are offered.
1. By the end of the week, I ___ (read) the whole report.
Answer: will have read
complete before the deadline; read is the irregular participle
2. Hurry up, or the film ___ (start) by the time we get there.
Answer: will have started
by the time marks the deadline; get stays present simple
3. Next April they ___ (be) married for twenty-five years.
Answer: will have been
a duration counted up to a future date
4. It's midnight in Tokyo, so she ___ (probably / go) to bed.
Answer: will probably have gone
a confident assumption about the present
5. This time tomorrow we ___ (fly) over the Atlantic. (future continuous or future perfect?)
Answer: will be flying
in progress at that moment, so the continuous
6. ___ you ___ (finish) the slides before the client arrives?
Answer: Will you have finished
question: will moves in front of the subject
Future Perfect Tense FAQs
- What is the future perfect tense?
- The future perfect describes an action that will be complete before a specific point in the future. It is formed with will have plus a past participle: By Friday I will have finished the report. The sentence looks ahead to Friday and reports that, at that point, the finishing is already behind us.
- When do you use the future perfect instead of the future simple?
- Use the future perfect when the sentence contains a deadline and the action is finished before it: I'll have sent the invoice by noon. Use the future simple when you are simply saying that something will happen: I'll send the invoice at noon. If by fits naturally in front of the time expression, the future perfect is usually right.
- What is the difference between the future perfect and the future continuous?
- Both look at a future moment, but the future perfect says the action is finished then and the future continuous says it is in progress then. At ten I'll have finished the exam means the exam is over by ten; At ten I'll be doing the exam means I am in the middle of it. By pushes towards the perfect, at and while towards the continuous.
- Why is it by the time you arrive and not by the time you will arrive?
- Because English uses the present simple, not will, in time clauses that refer to the future. The words by the time, when, before, until, and as soon as all follow this rule: By the time she gets home, the food will have gone cold. The future tense appears only in the main clause.
- Can will have refer to the present?
- Yes. Since will expresses certainty, will have plus a participle can state a confident assumption about something that has already happened: The letter will have arrived by now. You'll have heard about the merger. It means the speaker is sure without having checked, and the structure is the same as the future perfect with the reference point moved to now.