French grammar · Advanced
French Future Perfect Conjugations: J'aurai Fini and When to Use It
The future perfect, le futur antérieur, is avoir or être in the future plus a past participle: j'aurai fini, je serai parti. It describes something that will already be over by a given point in the future, and it is compulsory after quand and dès que when one future action precedes another.
Quand tu auras fini, préviens-moi.
When you've finished, let me know.
What it is
French marks the order of future events more carefully than English does. If two things are going to happen and one will be finished before the other starts, the earlier one goes into the futur antérieur. The auxiliary carries the future, the participle carries the completion.
D'ici demain soir, nous aurons déménagé. — By tomorrow evening, we'll have moved.
How to spot it
Look for aurai, auras, aura, aurons, aurez, auront or serai, seras, sera, serons, serez, seront followed by a participle.
- J'aurai terminé avant midi. — I'll have finished before noon.
- Elle sera déjà partie. — She'll already have left.
- Nous nous serons installés en juin. — We'll have settled in by June.
- Ils auront tout oublié. — They'll have forgotten everything.
Aura plus a participle is a future perfect; a plus a participle is a passé composé. The single letter r is the whole difference.
Future Perfect Conjugations Quick Reference
The shape of the tense
| Auxiliary | Example | Agreement | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| avoir | j'aurai fini | none with the subject | I'll have finished |
| avoir + preceding object | les mails que j'aurai envoyés | with the object | the emails I'll have sent |
| être, movement verb | elle sera arrivée | with the subject | she'll have arrived |
| être, plural subject | ils seront rentrés | with the subject | they'll have got home |
| être, reflexive | tu te seras trompé(e) | with the subject | you'll have made a mistake |
| avoir, guessing | il aura oublié | none | he must have forgotten |
Common Future Perfect Conjugations Examples in French
The three main jobs of the futur antérieur:
One Future Before Another
- Quand j'aurai lu le rapport, je te dirai.
- When I've read the report, I'll tell you.
- Dès qu'elle sera rentrée, on mangera.
- As soon as she's back, we'll eat.
- Lorsque tu auras signé, envoie-le-moi.
- Once you've signed, send it to me.
- Une fois qu'ils seront partis, on rangera.
- Once they've left, we'll tidy up.
English uses a present perfect or even a simple present in these clauses; French insists on the future perfect because the action is in the future.
Deadlines
- D'ici la fin du mois, j'aurai fini le manuscrit.
- By the end of the month, I'll have finished the manuscript.
- Dans dix ans, il aura pris sa retraite.
- In ten years he'll have retired.
- Demain à cette heure-ci, nous serons arrivés.
- This time tomorrow, we'll have arrived.
- En juillet, elle aura passé son permis.
- By July she'll have taken her driving test.
The time expression is what makes the tense necessary. Without d'ici or dans, a plain future would often do.
Probability About the Past
- Il aura oublié, comme d'habitude.
- He must have forgotten, as usual.
- Tu auras mal compris.
- You must have misunderstood.
- Elle se sera trompée de jour.
- She must have got the day wrong.
- Ils auront raté leur train.
- They'll have missed their train.
This is a guess about something that has already happened, and it's common in speech. Context is the only clue that the sentence isn't about the future.
Negative and Interrogative
- Je n'aurai pas terminé à temps.
- I won't have finished in time.
- Elle ne sera pas encore arrivée.
- She won't have arrived yet.
- Auras-tu fini avant ce soir ?
- Will you have finished before this evening?
- Ils ne se seront pas rendu compte.
- They won't have realised.
Ne … pas brackets the auxiliary, and pas encore is the natural way to say not yet.
Building the Future Perfect
The construction is the same as every other compound tense. What's specific is when French requires it.
The Future Lives in the Auxiliary
Conjugate avoir or être in the futur simple and leave the participle alone. Aurai, auras, aura, aurons, aurez, auront and serai, seras, sera, serons, serez, seront are all you need.
Nous aurons répondu avant vendredi.
We'll have replied before Friday.
Future auxiliary + participle.
Auxiliary Choice Follows the Passé Composé
If a verb takes être in the passé composé, it takes être here. Finir takes avoir, so it's j'aurai fini; partir takes être, so it's je serai parti.
Il sera descendu avant nous.
He'll have come down before us.
avoir → aurai, être → serai.
Agreement Works as Usual
With être the participle agrees with the subject; with avoir it agrees only with a direct object that comes earlier in the sentence. Nothing about the future changes those rules.
Elles seront rentrées avant la nuit.
They'll be back before dark.
sera partie, seront parties.
Both Clauses Are in the Future
In a quand sentence, the subordinate clause takes the future perfect and the main clause takes a simple future or an imperative. English drops to a present tense in the first clause; French does not.
Quand tu auras mangé, tu te sentiras mieux.
When you've eaten, you'll feel better.
Future perfect + future.
It Marks Completion, Not Distance
The tense says nothing about how far away the moment is. J'aurai fini dans cinq minutes and j'aurai fini dans dix ans are equally correct; what matters is that the action will be over by then.
Dans cinq minutes, j'aurai tout rangé.
In five minutes I'll have put everything away.
Finished by then, however near.
Common Mistakes with Future Perfect Conjugations
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.
English uses a present perfect after when, but the action is in the future, and French marks the time of each verb independently. The subordinate clause needs the future perfect.
Incorrect: Elle sera parti avant nous. — She'll have left before us.
Correct: Elle sera partie avant nous. — She'll have left before us.
The auxiliary is être, so the participle agrees with the subject. Elle requires partie.
Incorrect: Je serai fini mon travail. — I'll have finished my work.
Correct: J'aurai fini mon travail. — I'll have finished my work.
Finir takes avoir, because it has a direct object. Je serai fini would mean I'll be finished in the sense of done for.
Incorrect: Nous aurons finis à midi. — We'll have finished by noon.
Correct: Nous aurons fini à midi. — We'll have finished by noon.
With avoir the participle never agrees with the subject, however plural it is. The s only appears when a direct object comes before the verb.
The Paradigms Side by Side
Two auxiliaries, one participle each, plus a comparison with the simple future so you can see exactly what the extra word adds.
Verbs Taking Avoir
No agreement with the subject: the participle stays as it is for all six persons.
| Pronoun | avoir (futur) | + finir | + voir |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | aurai | j'aurai fini | j'aurai vu |
| tu | auras | tu auras fini | tu auras vu |
| il / elle / on | aura | elle aura fini | il aura vu |
| nous | aurons | nous aurons fini | nous aurons vu |
| vous | aurez | vous aurez fini | vous aurez vu |
| ils / elles | auront | ils auront fini | elles auront vu |
Aura and auront are the forms to watch in dictation: one is singular, the other plural, and the participle gives you no help.
Verbs Taking Être, and Reflexives
The participle agrees with the subject. The bracketed letters show what a feminine or plural subject requires.
| Pronoun | être (futur) | + arriver | + se coucher |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | serai | je serai arrivé(e) | je me serai couché(e) |
| tu | seras | tu seras arrivé(e) | tu te seras couché(e) |
| il / elle / on | sera | elle sera arrivée | il se sera couché |
| nous | serons | nous serons arrivés | nous nous serons couchés |
| vous | serez | vous serez arrivés | vous vous serez couchés |
| ils / elles | seront | elles seront arrivées | ils se seront couchés |
The reflexive pronoun always comes before the auxiliary: je me serai couché, never je serai me couché.
Simple Future vs. Future Perfect
Read across each row: the left column places the action in the future, the right column places its completion there.
| Pronoun | futur simple | futur antérieur |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | je partirai | je serai parti(e) |
| tu | tu partiras | tu seras parti(e) |
| il / elle / on | il partira | il sera parti |
| nous | nous partirons | nous serons partis |
| vous | vous partirez | vous serez partis |
| ils / elles | ils partiront | ils seront partis |
Je partirai à midi means I'll leave at noon. Je serai parti à midi means I'll be gone by noon, which is a different arrangement.
Where French Requires It and English Doesn't
Two of these uses are grammatical obligations; the third is a habit of spoken French that catches learners out.
After quand, dès que, lorsque and une fois que
When the subordinate action will be finished before the main one, French puts it in the future perfect. English uses a present perfect or a simple present in the same slot, so the French version has one more layer than you expect.
- Quand j'aurai fini, je sortirai.
- When I've finished, I'll go out.
- Dès que tu auras reçu le colis, dis-le-moi.
- As soon as you've received the parcel, tell me.
- Une fois que nous aurons mangé, on partira.
- Once we've eaten, we'll leave.
If the two actions are simultaneous rather than sequential, use a simple future in both clauses: quand tu arriveras, on mangera.
Deadlines with d'ici, dans and en
A time expression that names a horizon rather than a moment invites the future perfect, because you're describing the state of things by that point.
- D'ici lundi, j'aurai rendu le dossier.
- By Monday I'll have handed in the file.
- Dans deux ans, ils auront remboursé le prêt.
- In two years they'll have paid off the loan.
- En septembre, elle aura déménagé trois fois.
- By September she'll have moved three times.
Compare dans deux ans, ils rembourseront le prêt, which says the repayment happens then rather than being complete by then.
Guessing about the past
Used without any future time reference, the tense expresses a confident guess about something already over. English needs must have or a stressed will have.
- Il aura pris le mauvais bus.
- He must have taken the wrong bus.
- Vous vous serez trompés d'adresse.
- You must have got the address wrong.
- Elle n'aura pas entendu la sonnerie.
- She probably didn't hear the bell.
Nothing in the grammar distinguishes this from the ordinary use. Only the absence of a future time marker tells you it's a guess.
Future Perfect Conjugations FAQs
- How do you form the future perfect in French?
- Put avoir or être into the simple future and add the past participle: j'aurai parlé, tu auras fini, elle sera partie, nous nous serons levés. The auxiliary is the one the verb uses in the passé composé.
- When is the future perfect obligatory?
- After quand, lorsque, dès que, aussitôt que and une fois que, when the action in that clause will be complete before the main action: dès que tu auras fini, on partira. English uses a present perfect there, which is why the French form gets forgotten.
- What's the difference between j'aurai fini and j'aurais fini?
- J'aurai fini is the future perfect, I will have finished, used for deadlines and sequences. J'aurais fini is the conditional perfect, I would have finished, used for regrets and unrealised conditions. The difference is one s.
- Why does il aura oublié mean he must have forgotten?
- Because a completed future can be read as a confident guess about a completed past. If there's no future time reference in the sentence, the future perfect is expressing probability: tu auras mal compris, you must have misunderstood.
- Does the participle agree in the future perfect?
- By the ordinary rules. With être it agrees with the subject: elle sera arrivée, ils seront arrivés. With avoir it agrees only with a preceding direct object: les lettres que j'aurai écrites.