French grammar · Intermediate
Le Futur Antérieur: The French Future Perfect and Its Two Jobs
The French future perfect, le futur antérieur, says that something will already be over by a given point in the future. It is the future of avoir or être plus a past participle: j'aurai mangé, je serai parti. It also has a second life as a way of guessing at what has probably happened.
Dans une heure, j'aurai fini mon travail.
In an hour I'll have finished my work.
What it is
Every compound tense in French means completed before the moment its auxiliary points to. Put the auxiliary in the future and you get an action completed before a future moment. That is the futur antérieur, and the future moment is usually named in the sentence by dans, avant, or a quand clause.
Quand tu rentreras, j'aurai déjà rangé la maison. — By the time you get home, I'll have tidied the house.
How to spot it
Look for aurai, auras, aura, aurons, aurez, auront or serai, seras, sera, serons, serez, seront in front of a participle. The r before the ending marks the future, and the participle marks completion.
- Nous aurons terminé avant midi. — We'll have finished before noon.
- Elle sera partie quand tu arriveras. — She'll have left by the time you arrive.
- Ils se seront installés d'ici septembre. — They'll have settled in by September.
- Tu auras tout oublié dans un mois. — You'll have forgotten it all in a month.
Aura and aurait differ by a single silent ending, so the future perfect and the conditional perfect look alike in writing and sound close in speech. Context nearly always disambiguates them.
Future Perfect Quick Reference
Where the futur antérieur sits among the future forms
| Form | Structure | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Futur proche | je vais partir | I'm about to leave |
| Futur simple | je partirai | I'll leave |
| Futur antérieur | je serai parti | I'll have left |
| Futur antérieur (guess) | il aura oublié | he must have forgotten |
| After quand | quand j'aurai fini | when I've finished |
| Negative | je n'aurai pas fini | I won't have finished |
Common Future Perfect Examples in French
The future perfect in the contexts where French actually uses it:
Finished by a Stated Deadline
- J'aurai rendu le dossier avant vendredi.
- I'll have handed in the file before Friday.
- Dans dix ans, la ville aura complètement changé.
- In ten years the town will have changed completely.
- Ils auront fini les travaux d'ici l'été.
- They'll have finished the building work by the summer.
- À cette heure-là, nous serons déjà couchés.
- At that time we'll already be in bed.
Avant, d'ici, and dans plus a time span are the expressions that most often call for this tense.
After Quand and Dès Que
- Quand j'aurai reçu ta réponse, je réserverai.
- Once I've had your answer, I'll book.
- Dès que tu auras terminé, préviens-moi.
- As soon as you've finished, let me know.
- Je partirai lorsqu'il sera arrivé.
- I'll leave once he's arrived.
- Après que nous aurons mangé, on sortira.
- After we've eaten, we'll go out.
English uses a present perfect in these clauses. French uses a future perfect, because the action lies in the future.
Guessing What Has Happened
- Il n'est pas là ; il aura oublié le rendez-vous.
- He isn't here; he must have forgotten the appointment.
- Elle n'a pas répondu, elle n'aura pas vu mon message.
- She hasn't answered, she probably didn't see my message.
- Ils auront pris un autre chemin.
- They'll have taken a different route.
This use has nothing to do with the future. It is a way of presenting an inference about the past as a reasonable assumption.
With Être Verbs and Reflexives
- Nous serons rentrés avant la nuit.
- We'll be back before dark.
- Elle sera devenue médecin d'ici là.
- She'll have become a doctor by then.
- Tu te seras habitué au bout d'une semaine.
- You'll have got used to it after a week.
- Ils se seront perdus, comme d'habitude.
- They'll have got lost, as usual.
The participle agrees with the subject exactly as in the passé composé: elle sera partie, ils seront partis.
How the Futur Antérieur Works
One formation rule, one sequencing rule, and one idiomatic use that catches people out.
Future Auxiliary Plus Participle
Conjugate avoir or être in the futur simple and add the participle. Avoir gives aurai, auras, aura, aurons, aurez, auront; être gives serai, seras, sera, serons, serez, seront.
Vous aurez compris avant la fin du cours.
You'll have understood before the end of the lesson.
aurai / serai plus the participle.
It Needs a Future Reference Point
The tense expresses completion relative to something, so the sentence has to say relative to what: a date, a duration, or another clause. Without that anchor the futur simple is what you want.
D'ici demain soir, tout aura été réglé.
By tomorrow evening everything will have been sorted out.
Completed before a named future moment.
It Marks the Earlier of Two Future Actions
When two things are still to happen and one precedes the other, French puts the earlier one in the futur antérieur and the later one in the futur simple. English uses a present perfect for the first of the two.
Quand j'aurai lu le livre, je te le prêterai.
When I've read the book, I'll lend it to you.
Earlier action: futur antérieur.
It Can Express a Probable Past
Used on its own, with no future time in sight, the futur antérieur turns into a hedge about the past. Il aura mal compris means he must have misunderstood: the speaker is guessing rather than reporting.
Le train aura eu du retard.
The train must have been delayed.
No future in sight means a guess about the past.
Agreement Follows the Ordinary Rules
Être verbs agree with the subject, reflexives agree with the reflexive pronoun when it is the direct object, and avoir verbs agree only with a direct object placed in front of the verb.
Les lettres que j'aurai écrites partiront lundi.
The letters I'll have written will go out on Monday.
Same agreement as the passé composé.
Common Mistakes with Future Perfect
Incorrect: Quand j'ai fini, je t'appellerai. — When I've finished, I'll call you.
Correct: Quand j'aurai fini, je t'appellerai. — When I've finished, I'll call you.
After quand, French marks future time explicitly. The English present perfect has to become a French future perfect because the finishing has not happened yet.
Incorrect: Elle aura partie avant nous. — She'll have left before us.
Correct: Elle sera partie avant nous. — She'll have left before us.
Partir takes être in compound tenses, so its future perfect uses the future of être, not of avoir. The agreement on partie is a clue that être is required.
Incorrect: Si tu auras fini, dis-le-moi. — If you've finished, tell me.
Correct: Si tu as fini, dis-le-moi. — If you've finished, tell me.
Si takes the present or the passé composé. Only quand, dès que, and their relatives take a future form in the subordinate clause.
Incorrect: J'aurais fini avant midi. — I'll have finished before noon.
Correct: J'aurai fini avant midi. — I'll have finished before noon.
Aurais with an -s is the conditional, meaning I would have finished. For a straightforward statement about the future the auxiliary is aurai.
Futur Antérieur Paradigms
The auxiliary is the only conjugated element. Compare the three columns and you can see how little changes.
Verbs With Avoir
The future of avoir is built on the irregular stem aur-, and takes the ordinary future endings.
| Pronoun | finir | faire | voir |
|---|---|---|---|
| j' | aurai fini | aurai fait | aurai vu |
| tu | auras fini | auras fait | auras vu |
| il / elle / on | aura fini | aura fait | aura vu |
| nous | aurons fini | aurons fait | aurons vu |
| vous | aurez fini | aurez fait | aurez vu |
| ils / elles | auront fini | auront fait | auront vu |
J'aurai fini and j'aurais fini differ only by the silent -s, which is why careful writers check this ending twice.
Verbs With Être
The future of être is built on ser-, and the participle agrees with the subject.
| Pronoun | partir | arriver | devenir |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | serai parti(e) | serai arrivé(e) | serai devenu(e) |
| tu | seras parti(e) | seras arrivé(e) | seras devenu(e) |
| il / elle / on | sera parti(e) | sera arrivé(e) | sera devenu(e) |
| nous | serons parti(e)s | serons arrivé(e)s | serons devenu(e)s |
| vous | serez parti(e)(s) | serez arrivé(e)(s) | serez devenu(e)(s) |
| ils / elles | seront parti(e)s | seront arrivé(e)s | seront devenu(e)s |
Elle sera partie has three written elements carrying information: the future in sera, the completion in the participle, and the gender in the -e.
Reflexive Verbs
The pronoun comes before the auxiliary and matches the subject.
| Pronoun | se lever | s'habituer | se perdre |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | me serai levé(e) | me serai habitué(e) | me serai perdu(e) |
| tu | te seras levé(e) | te seras habitué(e) | te seras perdu(e) |
| il / elle / on | se sera levé(e) | se sera habitué(e) | se sera perdu(e) |
| nous | nous serons levé(e)s | nous serons habitué(e)s | nous serons perdu(e)s |
| vous | vous serez levé(e)(s) | vous serez habitué(e)(s) | vous serez perdu(e)(s) |
| ils / elles | se seront levé(e)s | se seront habitué(e)s | se seront perdu(e)s |
No elision occurs here, because serai begins with a consonant: me serai, te seras, se sera.
The Two Halves of the Futur Antérieur
One use is about the future and follows a strict sequencing rule; the other is about the past and is purely idiomatic.
Obligatory after quand, dès que, lorsque, aussitôt que, après que
If the subordinate action must be finished before the main one, French puts it in the futur antérieur. English uses a present perfect there, which is why the French version looks over-specified.
- Quand tu auras fini tes devoirs, tu pourras sortir.
- When you've finished your homework, you can go out.
- Dès qu'ils seront arrivés, on passera à table.
- As soon as they've arrived, we'll sit down to eat.
- Je te dirai ce que j'en pense quand je l'aurai lu.
- I'll tell you what I think once I've read it.
If the two actions are simultaneous rather than sequential, both clauses take the simple future: quand je serai à Paris, je t'appellerai.
The futur antérieur of supposition
With no future time reference, the tense expresses a confident guess about something that has already happened, equivalent to English must have.
- Il n'a pas appelé ; il aura été occupé.
- He didn't call; he must have been busy.
- Tu auras mal lu l'adresse.
- You must have misread the address.
- Elle sera passée pendant notre absence.
- She must have come by while we were out.
The simple future does the same job for the present: on sonne, ce sera le facteur, someone's at the door, it'll be the postman.
Never after si meaning if
Si takes the present or the passé composé, never a future form. The future perfect belongs in the result clause instead.
- Si tu as fini avant moi, attends-moi.
- If you've finished before me, wait for me.
- Si elle appelle, dis-lui que je serai déjà parti.
- If she calls, tell her I'll have already left.
Compare quand, which takes the future perfect, with si, which takes the passé composé for the same idea.
Future Perfect FAQs
- How do you form the future perfect in French?
- Put avoir or être in the futur simple and add the past participle: j'aurai parlé, tu auras parlé, elle sera partie. The auxiliary is whichever one the verb takes in the passé composé, and être verbs agree with the subject.
- When is the futur antérieur required?
- Whenever one future action has to be finished before another, especially after quand, dès que, lorsque, aussitôt que, and après que. Quand j'aurai fini, je sortirai: the finishing comes first, so it takes the compound form.
- What does il aura oublié mean?
- He must have forgotten. With no future time reference, the futur antérieur becomes a way of guessing about the past. It is common in speech and always carries a note of supposition rather than certainty.
- What is the difference between j'aurai fini and j'aurais fini?
- One silent letter and a whole mood. J'aurai fini is the future perfect, I will have finished. J'aurais fini is the conditional perfect, I would have finished. In writing the -s is the only clue, so it repays checking.
- Can the future perfect follow si?
- No. After si meaning if, French uses the present or the passé composé: si tu as fini, on part. The future perfect can appear in the other half of the sentence, but never inside the si clause itself.